Sacrifice
by Abagael
Summary: Jacen Solo must make the ultimate sacrifice, in order to save the people he loves. But will the meddling of Tahiri, a couple of dark Jedi, and Anakin, ruin Jacen's carefully laid plans? Set in LotF/NJO Era. Characters incl. Tahiri, Han, Leia, Alema, etc.
1. Chapter 1

**Sacrifice**

**Chapter 1: Stargazing**

Tahiri stared out of the viewport at the stars and wondered how she'd gotten herself into this mess. She often looked at the stars these days, but not because of their beauty. She had developed a form of semi-meditation while staring at the vast nothingness of space, where she could disconnect from the world, and shield herself from the reality of her life.

She was using this technique now; she quite often did this to clear her mind before an important battle. Slowly, the stars were all blurring together into one large burning light, brighter than all of Coruscant. Tahiri closed her eyes, and she was gone; gone from her war-torn reality, and back to the last time she could remember being happy.

_Anakin mussed her hair, the way he had done a hundred times.  
"You aren't the same as you were before the Yuuzhan Vong captured you. Neither am I. But you're still Tahiri."  
"There's something in you, Tahiri, that no one could ever change."  
Anakin found a stray lock of hair across her eyebrow and traced lightly over the raised scars on her forehead.  
"I'd rather be here with you"  
She took his face in both hands and pressed her lips against his.  
"Your timing is perfect. Wait until we're doomed to give me my first kiss."  
"Are you sorry, Anakin?"  
"Tahiri, I haven't changed my mind. I'm not sorry at all. I don't regret kissing you."_

Tahiri smiled as the happy memories warmed every inch of her body. But that was where her happiness had ended. Just a few months later, Anakin, her love, had died valiantly during the mission to Myrkr.

She didn't even kiss him goodbye, or tell him how much she loved him…and now he was gone…

As Tahiri opened her eyes, a single shining tear rolled down her face and on to her GAG uniform. She wiped it away angrily. Now was not the time to be thinking of such things, especially not right before an important battle. The battle…

Tahiri stared out of the viewport once again, but this time she focused on the ever-increasing mass of a planet below, instead of the stars. Anakin's family were down there…her family were down there…

She shook her head and tried to focus her thoughts on the task at hand. They were to take the planet. It was as simple as that. No more skirmishes across the galaxy, no more casualties…no more war. This was where all of the conflict had started, all those years ago, and this was where it was going to end – tonight.

A shadow appeared on the viewport, obscuring her view of the planet and the stars. Tahiri did not glance up; she simply continued to stare out at what was unfolding around her.

Suddenly, thousands of tiny bright specks appeared out of no where in a semi-circle around the planet. The shadow next to her stirred, and Tahiri knew it was time. The end of the war was near.

She turned and faced the shadow, with a hardness in her eyes that was a result of the many years she'd spent fighting war after war. This would be the last.

Tahiri addressed the shadow with as much determination as she could muster: "Let's end this, Jacen."

Jacen nodded and gazed at Tahiri, his hazel eyes full of resolve. "Yes," he said, "Let's."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Organised Chaos**

Watching the Galactic Alliance Guard prepare for battle reminded Tahiri of a Tatooinian circus; soldiers running this way and that, backwards and forwards with equipment and supplies, somewhat resembling that of performers rushing around and around in a circular ring with no where to go.

It was what Tahiri referred to as 'organised chaos;' the main hanger of the Star _Destroyer Anakin Solo_ was a buzz of activity, and seeing it always gave Tahiri a rush like nothing else.

She was perched on the top deck of the _Anakin_ overseeing all of the commotion with her commanding officer and GAG leader, Jacen Solo. Tahiri remembered watching a holovid once on the art of war, and seeing a perfectly orchestrated plan being put into action right in front of her eyes, she finally understood what it had actually meant; this was art – and war – at its purest form.

Jacen looked over at Tahiri with the smallest hint of a smile, and she knew he had been reading her thoughts and agreed with her. It was the typical expression he gave when they were both on the same page.

Tek, a young chron officer who had been supervising below, appeared at Jacen's side and saluted his commander stiffly.

"Excuse me, Lord Solo, I have a revised schedule on the battle preparations to give you," Tek stammered.

Jacen, who had not been paying any attention to Tek at this stage, spun on his heel and glared at the young man with his arms folded.

"Revised schedule?" Jacen asked. "I don't remember asking for a revised schedule." His voice was barely above a whisper, but the menace in it was unmistakable. If Tahiri had been in Tek's shoes, she would have rather Jacen yell at her – it was less terrifying!

Jacen continued to glare at Tek, his piercing gaze boring a hole right through the young officer's soul. Tek began to shake a little, and tried to open his mouth to reply, but it was too dry to get even the slightest noise out. Jacen inhaled heavily, his gaze unmoving. Although his face remained expressionless, Tahiri could tell by his force-aura that Jacen was growing impatient with Tek, and would soon crack if the young officer wasn't careful.

She knew that Tek was trying hard to answer the GAG leader, but somewhere along his neural paths, the message that told his mouth to form words got lost, and all he managed to do was look like a fish out of water, his mouth opening and closing every few seconds. Tahiri would have laughed at the sight, had she not known what was going to happen next.

Jacen cracked. Poor Tek never knew what hit him.

"Tahiri…find me a new chron officer!" Jacen demanded, turning away from Tek's lifeless body. "We've got a war to win!"

"Yes, sir!" she saluted. Jacen nodded his approval, and headed for his quarters. "Well," Tahiri sighed, "The first casualty of the war."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Too Old To Put Up A Fight**

"Base, this is Battle Fleet _Liberty_…we are in formation…what are our orders?"

"Battle Fleet _Liberty_, this is base…hold formation…your orders will be transmitted to you shortly. Please use the encryption code provided to you at the rendezvous point."

Leia Organa Solo put down the communicator and relayed the orders to the fleet. Her husband, Han Solo, left his station and headed over, rubbing her shoulders reassuringly to put her mind at ease.

"Who said we were too old to put up a fight?" he asked, pulling his trademark lop-sided Solo grin. Leia smiled, but didn't really put much effort into making it believable. She knew Han was only trying to help, and deep down she loved him for it, but right now she was too tired, anxious and upset to care. She was tired because for years all anyone in the second rebellion had been doing was planning the war; anxious, because even though they joked about it often, she and Han were not as lithe as they used to be, and were getting older and slower every day; and upset, because in a few hours, they would be in a battle with their sole surviving son – their own flesh and blood!

Han was still rubbing her shoulders, waiting for Leia to respond, and when she still hadn't said anything a few minutes later, he put his arms around her in a wookie-style hug and squeezed.

Leia sighed and relaxed her aching muscles, melting into her husband's warm embrace, if only for a moment. Tears welled in her eyes as her mind rested, and she began to think about the direction their lives had taken over the past few years…the rifts in their family, Jacen's new allegiance…

"Han-" Leia began, cutting herself off, as the tears threatening to fall earlier spilled over her cheeks.

Although he wasn't force-sensitive, Han had been married to Leia long enough to know what she was thinking. "I know, Princess…I know," he soothed.

Leia was a strong woman – stronger than most – a fierce warrior, and a skilled Jedi, but sometimes, like when their youngest son, Anakin, had been killed in action, Leia needed Han to be strong for them both. He had a feeling that this was going to be one of those times.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Enter Phase Two**

The turbolasers were working over-time, tearing scorch marks into the side of a Corellian gunship. There was a resonating _crack,_ and then the ship split in two, sparks and flames flying throughout, and evaporating as they touched the frigidity of space.

It had been nearly eight hours since the airstrike had begun, and the second round of turbolaser batteries on the _Anakin Solo_ were whining with strain. Soon they would have to give them a moment to cool down and switch to the ion cannons, but that didn't matter.

They could do without the turbolasers for a while – the GAG Fleet had already taken out half of the Corellian gunships, and a quarter of what was left wouldn't last much longer.

Though they were making progress, Jacen had always known that they were never going to win this battle in the air. It was almost time to deploy the ground troops.

"Lieutenant!" Jacen bellowed.

The Lieutenant spun around and saluted, puffing out his chest, which was covered in GAG insignia. "Sir!"

"Shift all power to the ion cannons, and target all firepower to that group of Assault Frigates."

The Lieutenant nodded and saluted again, before relaying that order to the communications officer.

"We are now entering Phase Two," Jacen announced, using the force to magnify his voice so that the entire crewpit could hear. "You are to continue targeting the Frigates until the last convoy is away. Once Phase Two is complete, you may head to the rendezvous point. Lieutenant Rylock?"

"Yes sir!" Lieutenant Rylock answered, saluting Jacen again.

"You are now in control of the _Anakin_. Take care of my ship, Lieutenant. I will meet you at the rendezvous point in 1700 hours. May the force be with you."

As Jacen turned to leave the pit, all of the crew stood and saluted their commander. "May the force be with you also, sir!" Lieutenant Rylock hollered.

Jacen nodded his approval to the Lieutenant, and headed for the docking bay to join the ground troops.

The real battle for Corellia had just begun.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: The Right Mix Of Nervousness & Dedication**

The troops waiting in the main docking bay were standing at attention as their commander looked them over. They were nervous; Tahiri could tell this by the tension reverberating in the force; however, she could also sense their fervor to impress their superiors and become heroes when they won the war for the Alliance.

It was the perfect combination, Tahiri thought: nervousness and dedication to the cause; just what you wanted in a soldier. Cockiness got you killed, and the GAG had no place in their ranks for a cocky soldier; they wanted to win the war, not start their own funeral service.

When Jacen was convinced that everything was in order, he came to a stop next to Tahiri. In the background, an officer had started the deployment countdown.

"Listen up!" Jacen barked to the troops, his force-enhanced voice bouncing off the metal walls of the docking bay. "In exactly 15 minutes, we will leave the _Anakin Solo_ via six transport ships, two of which will be used as decoys. A squadron of B-wing fighters will be deployed with the first transport to keep the heat off us a little. You have been divided into four groups: Alphas, Betas, Deltas and Gammas; you all know what you have to do. Gammas – you'll be leaving on the second transport with your leader, Tesar Sebatyne – the first transport will be a decoy. Deltas – your leader is Tahiri Veila, and you'll be leaving on the third transport."

Jacen was silent as Tesar saluted him, and ushered the Gamma group into the second transport.  
There was a screech of metal on metal as the first transport - the decoy ship - left the docking bay.  
"Transport One is away!" the communications officer announced over the loud-speaker.

Jacen continued his instructions. "Betas, you'll be on the fifth transport with your leader, Kyle Katarn. The fourth will, of course, be the remaining decoy ship. Alphas, you'll be heading out last with me. Remember your squadron's instructions – do not stray from the plan! If you encounter hostile Jedi, do not engage – leave that for your leader to deal with. No heroics – get in, get out, and get the job done! Good luck, soldiers, and may the force be with you!"

The remaining squadrons saluted their commander and headed for their respective transports.

"Transport Two is away!"

"Happy hunting!" Tesar rasped over the comm, as the second transport fell into open space.  
Tahiri lingered in the hanger. There was something she needed to discuss with Jacen before she left for Corellia.

"Tahiri!" Jacen called, "We don't have time for loitering! Get to your transport now!"

When Tahiri didn't answer him, he handed his weapons container to one of the Alphas and stormed over to where she was standing. He was a good foot and a half taller than Tahiri, and he towered over her menacingly, his hazel eyes livid.

"Are you disobeying a direct order, soldier?" he said in a low voice.  
Tahiri shook her head emphatically. "No, sir," she replied, "I was just – " she cut herself off and lowered her voice to a murmur. "Your parents are down there."

Jacen stared out at Corellia, which was visible through the transparisteel window. "I know," he mumbled. His eyes glazed over as he continued to stare at the planet. Tahiri gently nudged his mind with the force, but the barriers were in place, shutting his mind off from her probing questions.

"What would you like me to do?" she asked.

His gaze returned to normal then, and he turned away from the planet to look back at her. "You just worry about your squadron and the mission, soldier. I'll deal with my parents."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Miscalculation**

"We're losing a lot of ships out there, Princess," Han Solo remarked, as he watched the holo-projector of the battle above Corellia in the war room. "Are you sure the plan's going to work?"

Leia nodded as she busied herself at the communications terminal. "The Hapan Battle Fleet will be arriving any minute now. Our fleet will be doubled, and the Alliance have already used up a lot of energy trying to destroy the decoy fleet. When the Hapans jump out of hyperspace, the Alliance will have two choices: surrender, or be destroyed."

Han smirked at his wife's bluntness. They didn't win the war with the Empire for being slackers, that's for sure.

He couldn't see the Alliance giving up so easily though, and was about to point this out to Leia when a thought struck him: Jacen! He was out there somewhere; that Han was sure of; but what happened if the Alliance didn't surrender? Even after all of the evils Jacen had committed over the past few years, Han wasn't about to go blasting him out of the sky: he was still his son.

Sensing that Han's thoughts were lingering on Jacen, Leia leaned over and whispered "Don't worry, he's safe. He's in the Star Destroyer in the middle of the battle fleet; they've got him well protected. The Alliance isn't going to let anything happen to their military leader – they will surrender, Han." She kissed his cheek and gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze, before turning back to her terminal.

Han knew that she was right - Leia was always right – but a part of him was still uneasy about going to war with his son. "Where did we go wrong?" he asked himself. He was staring blanking at the holo-projector, deep in thought, when the Alliance formation began to break.

"What the-" Han began. The Hapan Fleet hadn't arrived from hyperspace yet, so he couldn't see how their cover had been blown. And then Han saw the tiny dots on the battle screen, which indicated a squadron of fighters had been released from the belly of the lead Star Destroyer.  
"What in blazes?" he exclaimed. Leia and the other generals rushed over to the holo-projector to get a better view.

"It looks like the Alliance are trying to take on a group of Assault Frigates with a squadron of B-wing fighters," Wedge Antilles announced incredulously, "Are they insane? They won't last five minutes out there!"

The battle screen formation changed again, as first one, and then two and three slightly larger dots were also expelled from the Star Destroyer. These new ships held a straight course directly through the middle of the battle field, and Leia knew what they were before the Assault Frigate Freedom's captain announced it over the communication network: transports. Transport ships could mean only one thing: "They're deploying ground troops," Leia murmured.

All of the generals' heads snapped up to eye her in disbelief. "What?!" they cried out in unison.  
There was no time to explain. Their informant had made a mistake; this was no airstrike. Now everyone would more than likely die because of this error in judgement. Jacen was no longer on the Star Destroyer; Leia could feel him in the force; he was on a transport, on his way to take Corellia and its people.

Jacen was very skilled in being able to hide himself in the force, but this time he was completely open to it, announcing to Leia and all of the other Jedi on the planet that he was coming; mocking them.

This enraged Leia immensely, but she quickly pushed her dark feelings down; she would not turn to the darkside like her son.

"Get what ground troops we have to make a blockade around the hangers!" Leia screamed, "We don't have much time, but we need to tie the GAG's down long enough for the Hapan's to dock and join the ranks! I don't know how long this is going to take, but we have to hold them off as long as we can – our lives depend on it!"


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Betrayal**

Transport number three landed heavily on Corellia, the impact bouncing the ship back into the air for a few seconds, before jettisoning it another four hundred meters through the dense forest.

As the ship skidded to a halt, Tahiri and the Delta Squadron were propelled into the cockpit, forcing the pilot and half a dozen soldiers to hurtle through the transparisteel viewport.

Tahiri slammed into the back of the pilot seat, the force of the collision sending her on the verge of unconsciousness.

As the engine slowly died, Tahiri lay unmoving at the base of the pilot's seat, one hand clutching her aching skull.

"This wasn't supposed to happen!" Tahiri thought, as she called upon the force to drag herself back into consciousness. "The Hapans weren't supposed to arrive for another couple of hours!"

After the second transport had been deployed from the Anakin Solo, the Hapan Battle Fleet had dropped out of hyperspace. Tesar and the Gammas had managed to make it through the battle relatively un-singed, but the others were not so lucky.

The Delta transport had been hit hard; their repulsorlifts were gone, their communications knocked out, and their engine was beyond repair. The ship had been out of control, and they had had no choice but to crash and try to ride it out.

Tahiri didn't know exactly what had happened to the others, but she knew that their chances of winning the war were getting lower with every second that passed.

As she slowly rose to her feet, still with one hand on her forehead, Tahiri could feel Jacen's annoyance and disappointment radiating through the force. Their perfect plan had been destroyed.

The Alliance had been betrayed; Tahiri knew this as a fact, for she was the one who had warned Jacen not to trust their informant in the first place.

But Jacen hadn't listened to her; he never listened to anyone anymore; he had trusted the information the informant had given him, simply because this particular informant was the only family Jacen had left – next to Tahiri, and his precious daughter, Allana.

Their informant had lied to them; he had lied to the Alliance, and to Jacen - his own cousin!

That was the disappointment Tahiri could feel in Jacen; he was disappointed that his cousin had betrayed him, disappointed that his cousin had acted so cowardly, and disappointed that he had ignored Tahiri's misgivings in the first place.

It wasn't long before Jacen's disappointment turned to anger. Tahiri knew he would make Ben pay for his treachery, if they managed to make it out of this alive.

Jacen could sense Tahiri's apprehension, and sent encouragement through the force. "We can still do this! The tables may have turned, but we can turn them back just as quickly! We are Sith, and it is our duty to protect the galaxy at all cost!"

"I don't intend on dying here today!" Jacen added.

"Neither do I!" Tahiri shouted.

The grogginess was gone from her mind now, replaced with a renewed sense of purpose, and a thirst for revenge.

Ben's betrayal had opened up old wounds that Tahiri had thought were long forgotten: Luke Skywalker sending Anakin to his grave, Mara's distrust after her Yuuzhan Vong capture, and her more recent banishment from the Jedi order. The Skywalker family had caused so much pain to Tahiri, and now they wanted to kill her – and Jacen.

Tahiri's anger began to grow, bubbling over into the force and quickly turning to hatred, pushing her deeper and deeper into the darkness.

She could sense Jacen's elation at her anger through their force-bond.

"Use it," he instructed. "Make them pay for what they've done."

"Yes," Tahiri agreed, tapping into her anger. She could feel herself grow more powerful almost instantly.

"And then the galaxy will finally have peace," she whispered.

As she exited the destroyed transport and began organizing what was left of her squadron, Tahiri couldn't help but wonder what else Ben Skywalker had lied about.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: The End Of The Line**

Ben Skywalker stood at the helm of the Hapan Battle Cruiser, _Sovereign_, and smirked to himself.  
Just like the Empire on Endor, today the Alliance would fall. His parents would be arriving with the Bothan fleet shortly, and there would be no escape for their enemies.

He thought of his cousin, Jacen, stuck on Corellia and doomed to spend his final moments there. Jacen had been so desperate to believe that Ben's allegiance still lay with him, that he had trusted Ben's intelligence on the rebel's battle plans. Tahiri had not trusted him, he knew, but his cousin had ignored her warnings. That was the arrogance of the Sith; they believed too much in their own intellect, so they were never wrong about anything.

Ben did have to give Jacen credit for the wonderful job he did in training him. Had it not been for his cousin's teachings on a few 'little known' force techniques; Ben would not have been able to trick him so easily. Being able to hide yourself and your emotions in the force really was a handy little skill to have. "I must teach it to my father some day," Ben thought.

A Hapan officer appeared on the bridge next to Ben.

"Excuse me, Jedi Skywalker… the Alliance fleet has found an escape vector. If we change course, we may have a chance to block them off before they make their jump to hyperspace."

Ben didn't respond straight away. His eyes glazed over slightly, as his father sent a message to him through the force.

Ben smiled and turned to the officer. "There's no need to change course. The Bothan fleet will be arriving on that vector any moment now. The Alliance doesn't stand a chance."

The officer nodded. "Very well, young Jedi. Would you like to give the orders?"

Ben turned away and faced the crewpit, using the force to amplify his voice. "Hold position! The Bothan fleet will be arriving shortly to take care of our Alliance friends! If any ships should try to run our way, take them out. We're not required to take any prisoners."

Ben turned back to the viewport in time to see the Bothan fleet drop on top of the limping Alliance ships.

The air strike was over in a matter of minutes. At the sight of the massive Bothan fleet, the Alliance ships had scattered, breaking formation in an attempt to find a clear escape vector and jump to safety.

The powerful turbo laser batteries of the Bothan ships ripped through the smaller Alliance vessels, tearing their hulls and opening their contents to space. The Corellian atmosphere was now full of debris. Ben noticed that so far one Alliance ship had managed to evade the Bothan assault – the Star Destroyer, _Anakin Solo _– and it was heading straight for the Hapan fleet!

In a last ditch effort, the _Anakin _was going to use its sheer size to try and bombard its way through the Hapans and jump to hyperspace. If Ben and the Hapans weren't careful, the Anakin could succeed. Even after all these years, a Star Destroyer was still one of the most formidable forces in the galaxy.

"Target the hyper drive compartments!" Ben ordered the fleet over the comm., "They don't want to put up a fight; they just want to get their metal *** out of here! We can't let that happen – we won't let that happen!"

The Hapan Cruisers moved in to intercept the _Anakin_, which was quickly gaining momentum. Once it broke through the Hapan blockade, it would be free to make its hyperspace jump – unless the fleet could disable the hyper drive first. The _Anakin _would then be forced to fight, and it would surely fall. Even in its enormity, one damaged Star Destroyer was no match for an entire Hapan fleet!

"Shift all power to the turbolasers!" Ben yelled down the comm. "We can hold any hits we might get for a while. Once we disable the hyper drive, return all power to the shields. Then we can take this beast down!"

The crew diverted the power as Ben had ordered, and the fleet's turbolasers whirred to life, blazing across the body of the _Anakin Solo_, and sending large chunks of metal plating flying into space.  
"They have no shields!" Ben suddenly realized.

The _Anakin Solo _fired back, taking out a few smaller Hapan ships, but it was a pointless exercise. The Hapans continued to rip the Star Destroyer apart with their turbolasers. A few shots made it through the plating and into the engine compartment. Almost instantly, the mighty giant began to slow.

"We've done it!" Ben cried out in triumph. "The rebels have won this round!"

The _Anakin Solo_ was the last Alliance ship to fall. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Take Them By Surprise.**

Leia Organa Solo rounded the corner of the main docking bay, her blaster at the ready. She opened her mind to the force, trying to sense where the Alliance soldiers were hiding. She found them immediately: half a dozen, just outside the _Falcon_.

Leia smirked. If the Alliance had resorted to searching the _Falcon_ for some information to derail their rebellion, they were getting desperate. Her smirk faded a little when she remembered that only a few hours earlier, it was the Rebels who were the desperate ones.

She looked to the sky and silently thanked her brother and nephew for turning the tide in the war. If it weren't for them, she and the other Rebels would probably be dead by now.

Leia turned her head to the way she'd come and motioned for the others to join her. Han Solo, Wedge Antilles and three young Corellian soldiers barely old enough to be out of school edged down the corridor and came to rest in the shadows opposite her.

She signalled with her free hand what she wanted the others to do, and Han and one of the young Corellians stepped to her side of the corridor. She gestured to Wedge that her group would go first, and he nodded in acknowledgement. Leia rested her free hand on the hilt of her lightsaber, anticipating a combat situation, and she, Han and the young soldier slowly made their way across the near-empty hanger towards the _Falcon_.

The group came to rest behind a stack of empty weapons crates, and Leia signalled motioned for Wedge's group to make their move. Wedge and the other two Corellians silently slunk across the glossy metal floor, ducking behind a dismantled A-wing a few meters to the right of the others.  
They were now close enough for Leia to get a better read on the Alliance soldiers, and as she opened herself to the force once more, she was shocked to find a familiar mind among them – a familiar Jedi mind!

"Kyle Katarn is with them!" Leia hissed to Han.

Han raised his eyebrows in astonishment, but said nothing. Kyle was one of his brother-in-law, Luke Skywalker's, oldest friends, and was one of the first Jedi to join the Skywalker Academy many years ago. If Kyle could turn his back on the Skywalkers and the Jedi, how many other old friends had fallen under Jacen's sway? Hand shuddered at the thought.

Leia waved her palm in front of her husband's face to bring his attention back to the task at hand. It was going to be much more difficult to take the Alliance soldiers by surprise with a Jedi amongst them. "In fact," Leia thought, "he probably already knows we're here." She didn't voice her opinion out loud. Negative thoughts weren't good for group morale.

They had two choices: they could try and take the Alliance soldiers now, or, they could wait for Luke, Ben and their back-up to land. The latter would be the more sensible choice, seeing as it would be less likely that one of them would be killed, but Leia had spent too many years married to the 'King of Rash Decisions' to be content with waiting for back-up. That, and the fact that Han always loved a good fire-fight.

Leia leaned in closer to Han and the young soldier so that her voice wouldn't carry as far across the hollow space. "They've got a Jedi with them, which is going to make things a little more difficult," she explained in a whisper. "I'll take care of the Jedi, so that leaves five soldiers for you and Wedge's group to handle. Try and stay covered; there aren't enough of us to go all heroic and get shot."

She nodded to Wedge and pointed to the closest repulsorlift on the Falcon. Wedge nodded back to say he understood, and then turned to the two Corellian soldiers to explain what was going to happen.  
Before heading off toward the _Falcon_, Leia put her mouth to her husband's ear. "This might get a little rough out there, Han. I can't promise the _Falcon_ will be in one piece when we finish this."

Han flashed his wife a trademark Solo grin. "Do whatever you have to do, Princess. Just make sure _you_ come back in one piece."  
Leia smiled at her husband and kissed him on the cheek, before rounding the corner of their hiding place and heading for the _Falcon_.

This was about to get interesting.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: A Jedi Problem. **

As the remaining soldiers of the Beta Squadron rummaged through the _Falcon's_ equipment, Kyle Katarn felt a tremor in the force. It was gone again faster than you could say sabacc, but Kyle knew what it meant.

"Betas, we've got company!" he announced over the squadron's comm. channel. The soldiers stopped their rummaging and took up defensive positions at various points around the ship.

After fifteen minutes of silence from both parties, Kyle told his soldiers "It doesn't look like they're going to come to us, so we'll have to take the fight to them."

"But we're trained for this kind of combat situation! I think we should wait it out and make them come to us. We have a perfect vantage point from which to attack, and it would be much easier to pick them off here than to take the fight to common ground," one of the Betas protested.

"Maybe so, soldier, but in case you haven't noticed, we're running a little short on time, so the best thing to do right now is getting out there and take them out as fast as we can! Got it?" Kyle snapped in reply.

"Yes," the soldier mumbled.

"That's yes _sir_, to you, soldier!" Kyle reprimanded sternly.

"Yes, sir!" the soldier replied.

"Better. Now, get out there and be careful. There's two on the right and three on the left. Let's make this quick. We've got other things to do!" Kyle ordered.

"You're not coming with us, sir?" another Beta asked.

"No," Kyle answered, "I have a Jedi problem I have to take care of."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Glancing over the top of the weapons crates he was hiding behind, Han could see his wife crouched beneath the _Falcon's_ open ramp, her lightsaber in one hand and blaster in the other. He quickly ducked his head as a shadow passed across the doorway. The soldiers were leaving.

Han waved at Wedge to get his attention and nodded in the direction of his ship. Wedge peered around the side of the broken A-wing and saw five soldiers dressed in the standard black GAG uniform edging their was down the exit ramp, their blaster pistols drawn.  
He caught Leia's eye and nodded, before leaping from behind the ship and firing at the Alliance soldiers. The two young Corellians followed suit, sending a dozen lasers bolts flying across the hanger to the _Falcon_.

A few shots hit their mark, and one of the GAG's went down, clutching his chest. Wedge and the Corellians ducked back behind the crippled A-wing as a barrage of laser fire came their way.

While the GAG's continued to pummel the A-wing, Han and his Corellian soldier jumped up from their hiding place to fire a few quick shots at the enemy. This caught the Alliance soldiers off guard, and as they spun around to face the new threat, Wedge's group rose again and fired a number of shots in quick succession.

Now that the heat was off the _Falcon_ a little, Leia took this opportunity to move into the open, deflecting a few stray laser bolts with her lightsaber as she crept up the ship's ramp.

As she rounded the corner into the _Falcon's_ cockpit, Leia thumbed off her lightsaber and placed her blaster in the holster on her utility belt. Kyle was an old friend, and she didn't want to fight him unless she really had to.

Leia stopped at the entrance to the cockpit, and the pilot's chair usually occupied by her husband spun around, to reveal Kyle Katarn decked out in full GAG attire.

"Greetings, Leia," Kyle welcomed. Although his voice was friendly enough, his expression told another story, his stony eyes and tight lips showing his true feelings on the situation.

This hurt Leia deeply.

"What's happened to you, Kyle?" she asked him. "Why are you doing this? We used to be friends, don't you remember?"

Kyle was silent for a moment as his dark brown eyes focused on a spot about Leia's head.  
"I fight for a cause greater than friendship; greater than alliances, and greater than love," he answered, ignoring Leia's last question. "But that's something someone like you could never understand," he added, his hard eyes meeting Leia's once more.

"Someone like me?" Leia asked, a little confused.

"Yes," Kyle said, continuing to hold his steely gaze, "someone who's selfish."

Her old friend's frank impression of her hit Leia hard and she inhaled deeply to bury the anger that had threatened to rise.

"Selfish," Leia began, "and you're not?"

"No," Kyle stated firmly, "I am selfless. I put the galaxy's needs above my own, and right now what the galaxy needs most is peace."

He activated his lightsaber then, the lavender blade casting an eerie glow over the _Falcon's_ control panels.

"And you're willing to kill me, one of your oldest friends, and the sister of the Jedi Grand Master, for your so-called 'galactic peace?'" Leia questioned.

Kyle took a step forward.

"Yes . . . as I said before, I fight for a cause greater than friendship." He took another step forward and brought his lightsaber up in an attack position.

"And I no longer answer to Luke Skywalker, or his Jedi Order."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Eliminate the Solo Threat.**

Tesar Sebatyne's forked reptilian tongue tasted the air, as he and the Gamma Squadron took apart the deserted Corellian war room.

"The Rebelz sure knew what they were doing," Tesar thought. They might have left in a rush, but the place was clean; all their data was gone. Where they'd taken the documents, Tesar didn't know, but what he did know was that continuing to search here was pointless, and a waste of his skill.

"Gammaz," Tesar rasped, "There is nothing here for uz to find. Thiz one thinkz we should destroy their equipment and knock out all communicationz, and then re-group with the Betaz. Thiz one will contact Commander Katarn now and find out where he iz."

The Gammas saluted their leader, and Tesar broke away from the group as they began blasting terminals, to connect with the old Jedi through the force.

He didn't get a reading on Kyle straight away, so Tesar closed his beady eyes and concentrated harder on trying to establish a connection.

He got one – it was weak; Kyle was somewhere on the outskirts of the capital, possibly near the shipping yards, while Tesar and the Gammas were in the Government sector, a fair distance away.

Kyle felt Tesar's presence in his mind and strengthened their force-connection briefly. He was in the main docking bay, next to the shipping yards, and was in a vicious lightsaber duel with Leia Organa Solo.

Kyle was in trouble. He'd lost the majority of his squadron when their transport had crashed, and the Rebels had just killed his remaining soldiers.

Tesar ordered the Gammas out of the war room, throwing in a few thermal detonators, before shutting the door behind them.

There was a resounding _*boom*_ as the thermals exploded, and the squadron sprinted out of the building as fast as they could.

"Are we re-grouping with the Betas?" one of the soldiers asked.

"No," Tesar hissed, "The Betaz are gone. Thiz one iz going to help Master Katarn. He iz having a little trouble with the Soloz."

As the squadron piled into the landspeeders they had stolen earlier, a middle-aged GAG named Ritter grabbed Tesar's scaly arm and pulled him to the back of the group.

"The Solos?" Ritter asked in a low voice, his eyes narrowed. "Aren't you forgetting what Lord Solo said, sir?"

Tesar pulled his arm out of Ritter's firm grasp and eyeballed him fiercely. "Thiz one rememberz what Lord Solo said, soldier!" he rasped, "But Lord Solo is busy, and the Betaz have failed. It iz thiz one'z duty as a GAG commander to take over their mission, and if that meanz eliminating the Solo threat, than thiz one will have no choice but to do it!"

Ritter saluted Tesar. "I understand, sir. Are you going to let Lord Solo know about this?"

Tesar climbed in the land speeder after Ritter and ordered the squadron to head to the docking bay. "Thiz one will tell him when thiz one knowz the whole situation." Tesar replied darkly.

Ritter nodded and said nothing. It would not be wise to disagree with his commander again. Besides, if something went wrong, the mistake would be on the Jedi's head; all the soldiers would be doing was following orders.

It was what they were trained to do, after all.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: See You Soon.**

The remaining Alpha and Delta soldiers had met quite a bit of resistance as they'd entered the shipyards. Despite their lack of preparation, the Rebels were putting up quite a fight. Jacen could only imagine how much harder it would have been if he'd told Ben Skywalker about their ground assault, and the Rebels had been ready for them. He thanked the force that he'd had the sense to keep that part of the plan a secret.

He looked around at the two squadrons, which had been forced to join together after their transports had crash-landed on the planet, killing two thirds of the soldiers on impact. They were winning right now, but the Rebels were slowly wearing them down. In the scheme of things, this was only a minor skirmish, and once the Hapans and Bothans joined the fight, things were going to get a lot tougher for the Alliance.

Jacen knew that none of the soldiers fighting beside him would make it home, but that was ok; that was the sacrifice you made for galactic peace.

He stole a glance at Tahiri Veila, who was cutting down rebel after rebel with her crimson blade, like a hot knife through butter. Lumiya had once said that Tahiri was not committed enough to be his apprentice; that she would not serve him in the way he required. But Lumiya had been wrong. Tahiri Veila was an asset to him; an asset to the Sith, and an asset to the Alliance.

"I really must remember to thank my Uncle for bringing her to me," Jacen thought, smirking. After all, if it hadn't been for Luke banishing Tahiri from the Jedi Order, she would probably be fighting against him right now.

When she'd come to him a few years ago, alone and with no where to go, Jacen couldn't turn her away. He knew in his heart that she would be loyal to him; and here she was, fighting valiantly along side him, while Ben Skywalker was not.

Lumiya had been wrong about him as well. It was a good thing he'd disposed of her. Lumiya had been wrong about everything.

A blaster bolt grazed his cheek, bringing his mind back to the present. He flung his lightsaber in the direction the shot came from, making sure it wouldn't happen again.

Tahiri clapped him on the shoulder, pulled her face inches from his and yelled over the roar of the battle, "Focus, Jacen! You're gonna get yourself killed out here!"

Jacen opened his mouth to respond, but stopped as he received a message from Tesar through the force. Tahiri kicked a rebel who had attempted to charge the line of GAG soldiers, and brought the hilt of her lightsaber across the back of his neck with a crack.

"Trouble?" she panted, pounding another rebel with a myriad of blaster fire. He nodded as he retrieved his lightsaber from another rebel's broken torso, and cut down a soldier about to fire at Tahiri's back. "You could say that," he replied.

"I can hold this, if you wanna check it out?" Tahiri offered.

Jacen shook his head and smacked down a rebel with his closed fist. Another two GAG's had just been shot down. They were tiring quickly now, and had started dropping like Dagobah swamp flies in a summer heat wave.

"You go," Jacen said, the firmness in his voice telling Tahiri it was more of an order than a request.

"Ok," she agreed. "Are you going to be ok with this lot?" She pointed to the band of rebel soldiers with her crimson blade, cutting down another in the process.

Jacen threw her a lop-sided grin, and for a split second Tahiri thought she could see Anakin looking out through his hazel eyes.

"No sweat! I'll be right behind you," he assured her, sending a swarm of green force-lightening into the front of the rebel ranks.

"See you soon, then," she told him, clearing a path through the enemy soldiers, her crimson blade blazing.

Jacen grinned again, and sent his reply through the force to Tahiri's retreating back. "Soon."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: Dead End Path.**

Leia ducked as a loose equipment barrel came flying her way. She rolled out of the way as Kyle Katarn's gold blade came crashing down, missing her left arm by centimeters.

She was back on her feet almost instantly, blocking Kyle's new attack with a high parry. A blaster bolt flew through the open hatch, ricocheting off the bulkhead and sizzling across Kyle's cheek. He cried out in pain, charging toward Leia with his lightsaber blazing.

Leia evaded the attack easily, jumping back on her right leg and driving her emerald blade along the length of Kyle's leg. The smell of scorched flesh wafted around the interior of the ship. Kyle's gold blade fell from his grasp as he clutched his burning leg, roaring in agony.

In retaliation, he slammed Leia into the wall of the Falcon with the force, retrieving his lightsaber from the deck as he did so. Leia picked herself up and brought her emerald blade up to block Kyle's attack – just in time. She pushed him off her and kicked out at his injured leg, knocking him off-balance for a moment.

Leia only needed a moment. Before Kyle could regain his footing, she threw herself at him, pushing her emerald blade through his left shoulder. Kyle cried out in pain, and fell back against the ship's wall as Leia slowly withdrew her blade. His lightsaber fell from his grasp again, deactivating as it hit the floor. He slid down the Falcon's wall until her was lying on the cold, metal deck, clutching his wound with his right hand. His breathing was labored; coming in short, shallow rasps. As he stared into Leia's deep brown eyes, he knew this was where his path ended.

But this was also where Leia Organa Solo's path ended as well.

Leia lifted her lightsaber, ready to strike the final blow. "I'm sorry Kyle," she said, shaking her head, "I didn't want to have to do this…" Her voice trailed off, and she wiped a tear from her flushed cheek.

Kyle began to laugh. It was a deep, throaty laugh, not nearly as impressive as it should have been because of his injury and his difficulty breathing. But something in his laugh spooked Leia, and she lowered her blade, backing away toward the open hatch.

Kyle's laughing subsided, and he coughed and wheezed, trying to muster enough strength to finish this his way. Leia didn't want to kill him; she'd said so herself, and now she didn't have to.

Kyle pulled a thermal detonator from beneath his armored vest and held it up for Leia to see. "It's been a pleasure, Leia Organa Solo," Kyle said. "May the force be with us both."

He flicked the switch. The last thing Leia saw before the bomb detonated was the smirk plastered across Kyle Katarn's face.

And then everything went black.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: Deja Vu**

Ben Skywalker slashed and hacked his way through the Alliance soldiers, his cobalt blade blazing. On either side of him stood his mother and father, their eyes set in concentration, and their minds connected through their force-bond.

The Hapan and Bothan fleets had arrived in one of the Corellian docking bays to Tesar Sebatyne and his army of GAG's pounding them with a multitude of blaster fire. Though fewer in number, the Alliance had dominated the first hour of the fire-fight, taking out a large number of rebel soldiers.

Now, however, the rebels were just starting to get on top of things. Every time a GAG member fell, the group bunched a little closer together, making it easier for the rebels to pick them off one by one.

Tesar's beady reptilian eyes burned with fury. He ducked and parried under blaster bolts and punches that didn't stick, swinging his lightsaber around him in a methodical arc. He grabbed one Hapan soldier in a force grip and flung him across the hanger, and threw another into a large group of rebels, knocking them over like fiddle sticks.

A blaster bolt sizzled across Tesar's scaly neck, and he roared out in pain. He used the force to numb the wound a little as he ripped his way through the rebel line to the source of the shooter.

He found him; a tall, cocky Hapan with wavy brown hair under his rebel cap.

Tesar lifted him in a force grip and held him high above the battle, cutting off the Hapan's breathing with a specialised Sith technique. Just before the Hapan lost consciousness, the Barabel slammed him into the floor, the rebels' neck snapping on impact.

Ben Skywalker watched in horror as Tesar Sebatyne dropped the Hapan soldier like a rag doll.

He deflected a blaster bolt and leapt into the air, pirouetting above a group of GAG's, and landing inches from the Barabel.

Tesar spun around to face him, his nostrils flaring in resentment. He lifted his lightsaber in an attacking stance and glowered at the young Jedi. "Are you ready to die, young Skywalker?" Tesar rasped, his forked reptilian tongue licking his scaly lips.

Ben brought his cobalt blade across the Barabel's and slid the tip centimetres away from Tesar's lightsaber hilt.

"Are you?" he asked.

*---*

"Leia!" Han bellowed, throwing a piece of the _Falcon's_ hull across the hanger. "Leia! Where are you?"

One of the young Corellian soldiers lifted a large half of a repulsorlift and pushed it aside. "Commander Solo!" he called into the wreckage, "Can you hear me?"

Han thrust more debris out of the way, and rocked back on his ankles, wiping sweat and the remnants of a tear off his grubby face. He sighed. They'd been searching like this for what felt like hours, although in actual fact it had probably only been fifteen minutes. He threw another piece of hull from the wreckage and shook his head. "I shouldn't have let her go in there alone," he moaned.

Wedge put a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. "There was nothing you could have done, Han. Besides, you can't give up yet, we've barely scratched the surface with this." He gestured toward the wreckage of the _Falcon_.

"I know," Han replied, his voice rising slightly, "that's my point. Look at it! No one could survive that!"

He dropped his head in his hands and his shoulders began to shake. "This was supposed to be the end of the fighting," he said, his voice muffled. "We were supposed to be free from all this; to live our lives together with our families in peace." He lifted his head and looked at Wedge Antilles, his grubby face stained with emotion. "We were supposed to be together! I can't live without her!"

Wedge patted Han's shoulder and rose to his feet. "You won't have to," he assured his friend, "because we're going to find her."

He marched over to what was left of the _Falcon _with as much purpose as a single being could possibly have, and began ordering the young Corellians to lift pieces of debris and carry them away from the wreckage.

They were making progress, and the pile of ship fragments was quickly diminishing.

Wedge held up a hand, stopping the excavation. Han looked up at the sudden silence, perplexed. "What's go-" he began, but Wedge cut him off, putting a finger to his lips in silence.

"I thought I heard something," he whispered to his friend, quietly creeping to the opposite end of the wreckage. "I think it came from over here."

Wedge peered down through the debris into the darkness, and lifted a sheet of twisted plating. He definitely heard something this time; a cough…or was it a groan? "Han - boys, get over here!" Wedge called excitedly.

Han leapt up and ran over to where Wedge was standing, the colour appearing back in his face. "Did you find Leia? Is she ok?" he asked.

Wedge put a hand across his old friend's shoulders to calm him down. "I don't know yet, Han. I don't even know who it is; but someone is alive under there."

Han's expression turned dark. "Then let's find out who it is."

*---*

As Tahiri ran across the empty courtyards towards the docking bays, she kept replaying the conversation with Jacen over and over in her head. It was like deja vu; she'd had that exact conversation with Anakin, right before he was killed on Myrkr. Tahiri shivered inwardly.

_"Does that mean that Jacen's going to die, too?"_ she thought.

"No," she corrected herself, "Jacen wouldn't die; this wasn't like the Myrkr mission; they weren't fighting voxyn or Yuuzhan Vong, they were fighting rebels. It was nothing they couldn't handle."

Still, just to be sure, Tahiri touched Jacen with the force.

He was right where she'd left him; cutting down rebels, his scarlet blade humming. Jacen told her to pick up the pace. Tesar and the Gammas needed her.

She tried to connect with the Barabel then, but he was too engrossed in the battle to keep their link open for long. He sent her an image of Ben Skywalker, his cobalt blade swinging wildly around and striking Tesar on the lower arm.

Tahiri winced as some of the Barabel's pain flowed into her through their force-bond. If she didn't get to him soon, he would be gone.

She severed their connection and called upon the force to strengthen her fatigued leg muscles. Tesar had been a close friend since the Myrkr mission, and Tahiri wasn't about to just let him die.

As she rounded the corner to the docking bays, she opened herself to the force once more, searching for the Barabel's presence. She felt someone scream out in agony, and then the force was silent.

Tahiri sprinted down the corridor as fast as she could, telling Tesar she was coming, and that everything was going to be ok. She thrust herself through the open hatchway and ignited her lightsaber, ready to jump into combat.

But Tesar wasn't there; and neither was Ben.

While Tahiri realized that the anguish she'd felt in the force before wasn't the Barabel's, the real Tesar slipped away into the darkness.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: You Will Always Be Family To Us.**

"Anakin would be ashamed of you!"

The words had come from Leia Organa Solo, who was being held up in her husband, Han's arms. Tahiri had never heard the woman speak with so much malice before. It was heartbreaking to think that there was a time when she used to think of them as her family.

_"You will always be family to us." _

Tahiri took a step back from the Solos and their small band of rebels, unsure if Leia had planted the memory in her mind, or if she had done it herself.

Both Han and Leia were looking Tahiri up and down in disgust. She noted that they were probably eyeing her GAG uniform, and the insignia above her left breast which stated that she was an Alliance Commander.

"If you're going to kill us, you might as well get it over with," Han remarked sarcastically.

Tahiri eyed him with contempt. "It's not my job to kill you."

"Oh, well then please let us know whose job it is, and we'll go and hassle them then," Han sniggered.

"It's so good that you feel that way, Han, because I'm afraid you're all coming with me," she replied.

"And what if we refuse?" Han asked, shifting Leia to Wedge and stepping toward Tahiri in a challenging manner. "You said so yourself; it's not your job to kill us."

"Han, don't!" Leia cried, her face contorted with pain as she spoke.

Han turned to give his wife a reassuring grin, and when he spun back to Tahiri, her face was centimeters from his.

"I said I wouldn't kill you," she said, tracing lightly over Han's jacket with the tip of her lightsaber blade, "but I never said I wouldn't _hurt _you."

Leia broke free from Wedge's grasp and began to limp over to where Tahiri and Han were facing off. "Would you listen to yourself, Tahiri," she pleaded, "You're beginning to sound just like Jacen!"

Tahiri pulled her crimson blade away from Han's scorched fabric and pointed it under Leia's chin. "I **am **just like Jacen!" she fumed, her emerald eyes ablaze with fury.

Leia sighed and shook her head. Tahiri was surprised to find that she was genuinely upset. She lowered her blade a fraction, and looked Leia straight in the eye. "You don't understand; I _have _to take you to him."

"To Jacen?" Leia asked.

Tahiri nodded. "I'm sorry," she whispered. Regaining her composure, she waved her lightsaber in the direction of Wedge and the Corellians. "If you don't cooperate, I'm going to have to hurt your friends."

Leia nodded, her brown eyes brimming with tears. "I understand. We'll go quietly, so long as you leave our friends alone."

"Your friends are not the ones Jacen wants. I won't harm them," Tahiri promised. She motioned toward the open hatchway.

Leia turned to Wedge, who was shaking with emotion. "Tell Jaina we love her."

Tahiri turned away slightly as a tear rolled down her cheek. She brushed it away angrily. _"Why is this so difficult?" _she asked herself.

Han walked over and joined his wife, grabbing her hand tightly. If this was how it had to end, he was glad that they were together.

"In a way, it's lucky that Anakin is no longer with us," Leia began. Tahiri eyed her suspiciously, wondering where she was going with this. "It would have killed him to see you turn out like this."

A memory flashed through Tahiri's mind then, of a time even before she and Anakin had realized they were in love.

_"I had a vision about you. You were grown up. You were scarred up and tattooed like a Yuuzhan Vong. You were Jedi, but dark. I could feel the darkness radiating from you."_

"Anakin, I would never do that. I would never hurt you." 

The tears were falling thick and fast now, and Tahiri couldn't stop them; she didn't want to stop them. She had allowed herself to become the very thing that Anakin feared the most; she had promised him that she would never turn into that; she had promised herself. Yet here she was, a Sith; everything that she had vowed _not _to be.

She glanced up at Han and Leia through her tears, and saw that they were crying, too. Tahiri suddenly remembered why she'd loved them so much; why she'd thought of them as her parents. Even after everything she'd done, they still cared about her. She wondered if they'd ever be able to forgive her.

Leia simply nodded.

Tahiri wiped away her tears with the back of her hand and deactivated her lightsaber, hooking it on her utility belt. "You have to get out of here," she said, "Now. If you don't, Jacen will kill you."

Leia put a hand on Tahiri's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Tahiri, but we can't go anywhere yet. Not without our son."

"But he's going to kill you!" Tahiri cried out in exasperation. "You can't save him, Leia. Letting him kill you will only make him fall deeper into the darkness."

"Maybe so, but we have to at least try to save him. What kind of parents would we be if we didn't?" Leia explained, her injured hand trembling.

Tahiri wiped away a stray tear that had fallen on to her chin and looked up at the Solos, who were willing to give up their own lives for a chance to save their son.

_"The ultimate sacrifice…"_ she thought.

It was then that Tahiri realized the true definition of being selfless. The Sith strutted around, claiming to be saving the galaxy with their acts of selflessness; when in actual fact, they were keeping the galaxy in perpetual war, with their acts of hatred and revenge. People like Han and Leia, and Luke Skywalker were selfless; people like Jacen and herself, on the other hand, were slaves to their passion – whatever it might be.

She suddenly realized that she had no idea who she was anymore. After her 'shaping,' she'd gone through such a dramatic personality change that she thought all of the confusion was finally behind her.

She was even more confused about herself now, than she was back then.

Tahiri knew it was time for her to find out what kind of person she really was; who she wanted to become.

_But the Solos… _

"Don't worry about us. We'll be fine," Leia assured her, putting a gentle arm on her shoulder. "You just go; do what you have to do." She smiled at Tahiri, her hazel eyes shining.

Tahiri smiled in return, and for the first time since Anakin's death, she smiled on the inside as well.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16: Don't Be A Stranger.**

Jacen sprinted towards the docking bays as fast as his legs would allow. It had been two full days since the air strike had begun, and just over a day since they'd crash-landed on this planet. The fatigue was starting to get to him, lapping at the edges of his mind, just waiting for his barriers to weaken so it could flood over him and take control.

But Jacen had other things to worry about right now. He was worried about Tahiri. He'd lost contact with her over three hours ago, just before he'd felt Tesar die. At first he'd wondered if Tesar was the reason behind her absence from the force; but then he'd thought about it in more depth, and concluded that it had to be more than that – more serious.

It wasn't like her to withdraw from the force; not from him.

He tried to pick up the pace, his mind spinning with thoughts of what might have happened to his young apprentice. Jacen couldn't bear the thought of losing Tahiri; she was the only family he had left in this universe, along with his beloved Allana.

_Allana… _

_"When this is all over, I'll go and see her,"_ Jacen said to himself. It had been so long since he'd felt his daughter's warm embrace, and the longer he was away from her, the more it killed him inside. He was so thankful that he'd managed to dispose of Lumiya before she could harm Allana and Tahiri.

He remembered like it was yesterday, the day Lumiya had admitted she knew about his daughter. He could still feel the coldness of his breath, and the way his heart had constricted when she had ordered him to kill her.  
He had refused, of course, so Lumiya had told him about the battle fleet waiting just outside the first hyperspace jump of the ship, carrying his daughter, and his young apprentice, Tahiri.

Anger simmered just below the surface of his mind as he recalled those painful memories, and he pushed the feeling down as far as he could. He didn't have time to reminisce about such things right now; he had to concentrate on finding Tahiri.

He could hear blaster fire up ahead. The Gammas must still be alive. They wouldn't last much longer without a leader, but there was no point in worrying about that now. Their fate had already been sealed the moment Tesar fell; and the Alliance had already lost the war. Continuing to fight now was pointless.

Once Jacen found Tahiri, they would get off this rock and head to Zonama Sekot, and visit Allana.

Before they did that, there was one more thing he needed to do.

---

"There's a ship ready when you are," Han said, shutting down his comm. and heading over to where Tahiri and Leia were sitting. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Tahiri nodded, gazing up into Han's deep brown eyes. She couldn't have asked for a better father if she'd tried.

_"Father-like figure,"_ she reminded herself.

"There's room on the _Shadow_, in case you change your mind," Han added.

Tahiri knew he was secretly hoping she would go with them, but she couldn't. Although she would always have a place in her heart for Anakin's family, too much pain had passed between them over the last few years, and nobody would be forgetting that in a hurry.

Tahiri shook her head. "Thank you for the offer, but I won't be changing my mind. This is something I need to do."

Leia smiled in understanding. "I know this is important to you, but be careful. Myrkr is a dangerous planet. If you do find what you're looking for out there, please let us know. Don't be a stranger." Her eyes glistened with tears.

Tahiri had the sudden urge to hug her, and flung her arms around Leia's neck, holding on tight. "We'll see each other again," she promised. She let go of Leia and turned to Han, holding out her hand for him to shake. He pushed it away, wrapping his arms around her instead, in a hug to rival a wookiee's.

Tahiri laughed as she pulled away. "Take care of yourselves, ok?" she said, her tone growing serious.

"We will," Han assured her. "The same goes for you, too, kid."

"What about Jacen?" she asked them, her expression turning dark. "I really wish you would take my advice and smoke jets out of here. There's nothing you can do for him; not now."

"I understand your concern, Tahiri, but we're not going to just leave him. Anyway, there's an army of rebel soldiers out there, and Luke, Mara and Ben are in the next hanger," Leia said. "We'll be fine."

"I still don't feel right about leaving you to face him alone…" Tahiri began, but Leia silenced her by placing a hand on her shoulder.

"We'll be fine," she reiterated. "This is something _we_ need to do."

"Well, I guess I'd better be going," Tahiri said. As she said it, she had a funny feeling that she wasn't going to see them again.

She brushed the tears out of the corners of her eyes and beamed. "Good luck," she said.

Leia hugged her again, squeezing tight. "Good luck to you, too," she replied, her voice muffled from the embrace.

As she turned around to leave, Han called out "Tahiri!"

She spun around to face him. He flashed her a lop-sided smile. "May the force be with you."

Tahiri struggled to hold back the tears as she grinned.

"May the force be with you, too," she whispered.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17: Traitor.**

"Lumiya was right," Jacen thought. "Tahiri couldn't be trusted; she was a traitor, just like everyone else."

He'd been hiding out behind the open hatchway, and had seen and heard everything. Tahiri had sold him out to his parents; and now she was consorting with them – _the enemy! _

He couldn't believe that after everything he'd done for her; after taking her in when the Jedi had abandoned her; teaching her; protecting her, that she could betray him like this.

They'd been through so much together over the years, and this - this was how she was repaying him – by leaving him; running off to Myrkr to sort out her own problems.

His anger was growing with every second that passed; boiling inside of him like lava on Mustafa, and threatening to explode.

Tahiri was walking toward him now. Jacen drew his lightsaber, the scarlet blade flicking to life. He wanted so badly to cut her down; to make her feel the pain he was feeling. His insides were tied in knots, and as she stepped closer to his hiding place, his emotions simmered to the surface; all of the hatred and desire that had been swirling around in his mind spilling out in to the force.

Jacen tried to hold it back, but it was too late. Tahiri stopped, mid step, and turned to Han and Leia.

"Jacen!" she cried.

He stepped out from behind the open hatch and into the light. There was no point in hiding anymore; he'd been exposed. It was time to do what he'd come here to do.

"Tahiri!" Jacen bellowed.

His Sith apprentice spun on her heels to face him, Han and Leia rushing to her side.

It crushed Tahiri to see the look of pure hatred in Jacen's eyes after all they'd been through together. His fury radiated through the force, touching her mind like invisible fingers.

Jacen wanted to yell a million different curses at Tahiri, but his anger towards her was so great that he couldn't form the words. He simply stood there, blocking the only exit, his scarlet blade held across his chest in a combat stance.

"Jacen, I-" Tahiri began, but Jacen cut her off.

"Don't try to explain! I know exactly what you were doing!" he spat, the words falling out of his mouth like venom. He saw Tahiri shrink back slightly and smirked.

"You're just like the rest of them aren't you? You pretend to be loyal, but what you really are is a traitor!" Jacen screamed, his face reddening.

**"TRAITOR!"**

His whole body was shaking with emotion, and his features were twisted and evil.

"Jacen, this has to stop!" Leia shrieked. "Can't you see what you've become?"

Seeing her only remaining son like this broke her heart in two. It didn't matter if he killed her now; she was already dying inside.

"Oh, mother, give it a rest. I know what you're trying to do. You're trying to turn me against the Alliance, so that I'll join you and your cause to dominate the galaxy!" His voice was more controlled now, but there was a darkness to it that shook Leia to the core.

"No, Jacen," Leia said, her voice wobbling, "I'm trying to save you."

"Save me?" her son mocked. "Save me? Wake up, mother! I don't need saving!" He threw a bolt of force-lightening at her, but it missed its target, landing instead on Tahiri's crimson blade.

"Jacen, you can't do this," Tahiri said, her voice soft but calm. "These are your parents."

"I don't have any parents!" Jacen screamed, throwing another bolt of force-lightening at the trio.

Again, Tahiri caught it on the end of her lightsaber.

"Please, Jacen, listen to me. Can't you see this is wrong? Can't you _feel _this is wrong?"

Her pleading tone hit him in the heart, and for a second his stance faltered a little. His lapse in concentration didn't last long.

"Listen to you?" he scoffed, taking a step toward his apprentice. "Why should I even bother to consider anything you say, Tahiri, after what you've done to me?"

"Hey! She hasn't done anything wrong!" Han interjected, pointing a waving finger at his son.

Jacen turned to face his father, his brown eyes cold, and his lips curved in an evil smirk. "She betrayed me to help you. She used me to save herself many years ago, and promised me that she would always be there."

He turned back to Tahiri, a sea of tears threatening to spill onto his cheeks. "You promised me that you would always be there; you promised. But you lied. You lied to me, Tahiri, and now, you have to suffer the consequences."

As Jacen's hands rose with another furious force-lightening attack, Leia ignited her lightsaber, limping to Tahiri's side and blocking the crackling wave.

"I'm sorry, Jacen, I'm sorry!" Tahiri sobbed, pushing out with the force to emphasize her words. "I never meant for any of this to happen; I never meant to hurt you. I just want to do what's right, and this isn't right. What you're doing, what we've _been _doing; it isn't right, Jacen."

He lowered his hands to his waist, stopping the attack on Tahiri and his mother, and looked Tahiri straight in the eye. "This is the will of the force. It has to be done."

She gasped inwardly as she caught sight of the look in his eyes. It was three parts determination, sadness and hate, and the combination shook Tahiri to the core. There was no way she or anyone could make him back down; not now. Lumiya had so twisted his perception, that he truly believed what he was doing was right.

Tahiri knew what she had to do next, and it broke her heart.

She took a step toward Jacen, making sure to position herself between him and Leia, and held her crimson blade at chest height, ready to strike.

Jacen lashed out with the force, flicking his hand in the direction of a large piece of the _Falcon's_ hull, lying on the deck a few meters away. Tahiri ducked instinctively, her heart constricting as she realized, too late, who that piece of flying debris was _really _for.

The section of hull hit Leia in the back of her injured knee hard, sending her toppling, head over heels, onto the glossy metal floor.

Han rushed over to help his wife, who was screaming in agony. Tahiri could tell by the looseness of the knee cap and the splatter of blood on the floor that Leia's knee had shattered.

Jacen advanced on the trio, readying himself to finish the job.

But there was no way Tahiri was going to let him do that; not while there was still a breath left in her body.

"You can't do this, Jacen! You can't do this! These are your _parents!_ Think of your sister! Think of what this would do to Jaina, Jacen!" she cried, her voice cracking.

"I don't have parents! I don't have a sister!" Jacen screamed again, pushing Tahiri back with a force-shove.

She anchored her feet to the floor and pushed back with a shove of her own, knocking Jacen off-balance slightly.

_"GET OUT OF THE WAY!"_ he growled.

"No!" Tahiri yelled. "I won't let you kill your parents!"

"I DON'T _HAVE _ANY PARENTS!" Jacen snarled.

It was at that moment, lying on the ground and clutching her knee, that Leia realized her son was truly lost.

Jacen stepped forward, his lightsaber held out in front of him, ready to strike.

"I can't let you hurt them!" Tahiri said in a low voice. She hit Jacen in the stomach with another force-shove, sending him sliding across the hanger and in to the metal wall.

"Tahiri! Get out of here!" Han shouted, grabbing at her right arm.

"Nooooooooooooooo!" Tahiri wailed. Her voice trailed off into a cry of agony as Jacen hit her hard with a wave of green force-lightening.

She tried to fend the attack off with her lightsaber, but the pain was too great, and she couldn't move her arms more than a few millimeters.

Jacen continued to pummel her with wave after wave of lightening, slowly pushing Tahiri to the back of the hanger.

Amongst the crackle of the lightening and her cries of anguish, Tahiri could faintly hear Han and Leia yelling at Jacen to stop. Her eyelids began to grown heavy, and she fell to her knees.

Through her hazy vision, she thought she saw Han charge at Jacen with his blaster blazing, and Leia limp towards him with her lightsaber swinging.

After that, Tahiri slipped in to unconsciousness. 


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18: The Price Of Peace.**

The war was over. The Alliance had lost.

Ben Skywalker watched as the Rebel army ushered the surviving enemy soldiers into a transport, ready to ship them back to the Galactic Capital of Coruscant.

He noticed Jacen wasn't among them, and was about to point this out to his father, when Luke Skywalker suddenly cried out in agony. Ben rushed over to where his father had collapsed, his head already cradled in Mara's arms.

"Dad!" he cried. "Dad! Are you ok?" He slid across the glossy floor and knelt at his father's side, grabbing his hand. It was as cold as space.

Ben looked up into his mother's startled eyes, his own brimming with tears. "What happened?" he asked her.

"I don't know," Mara replied, shaking. "All of a sudden, he just screamed and then fell to the floor." She rubbed the side of her husband's face, praying to the force that he would be ok.

A pair of Bothan medics was checking over Luke's body for any injuries he may have sustained in the battle. Other than a few scratches and blaster burns, there was nothing physically wrong with him.

Ben squeezed his father's hand. "Dad? Dad? Can you hear me, Dad?"

Luke groggily rolled his head to face his son. His eyes remained closed, but he managed to rasp the word _"Leia!"_

"Leia?" Ben and Mara asked in unison.

Luke's head began to thrash backwards and forwards. It was almost as if he was having a nightmare. "Leia!" he called again. "Leia!"

Ben had no idea what his father could mean; did he want to talk to Leia? He was about to order one of the Hapan soldiers to go and fetch his Aunt when a thought struck him: _Jacen!_

"Aunt Leia is dead!" Ben exclaimed, springing to his feet.

"What?" Mara cried. "Ben, what do you-"

Before his mother could even finish her sentence, Ben was already half way across the docking bay.

*~*~*~*~*~*

He ran faster than he'd ever run in his entire life, charging through the open hatchway that was housing the remains of the _Falcon_ like an out of control Barabel.  
What Ben saw when he entered the hanger would forever be burned in his mind: Jacen was standing over his mother, who was slowly slipping to the floor, the tip of her son's scarlet lightsaber sticking out through the small of her back.

Han was already dead; lying on the deck a few meters away, cut in two. As the last of her life drifted away in to the force, Leia stared into her son's eyes – her _killer's_ eyes – and choked out three little words: _"I-love-you."_

And then she was gone.

Jacen pulled his blade out as his mother fell to the floor, and deactivated it. He turned and faced his cousin, letting his lightsaber slip from his grasp.

"You killed them," Ben whispered in disbelief. "You killed them all."

Jacen said nothing, continuing to stare at his cousin.

"Jacen, did you hear me? You _killed_ your parents!" Ben cried, his high-pitched voice echoing around the hanger.

His cousin shifted his stance, and Ben caught a glimpse of Tahiri, lying face down on the floor, through Jacen's legs.

"You killed Tahiri, too!" Ben exclaimed.

For the first time since Ben had entered the hanger, Jacen acknowledged that he was there. "Tahiri?" he asked softly.

Ben looked past Jacen, who turned, following his cousin's gaze.

"Tahiri?" Jacen said tentatively, taking a step toward her. "Tahiri?"

When she didn't respond a second time, a flash of recognition passed through his mind. "I-I've killed her…" Jacen whispered.

He crept over to where Tahiri was lying and knelt down beside her, gently rolling her over and cradling her head in his lap.

Mara, Luke and a group of Rebel soldiers appeared in the hatchway; Luke being supported by his wife.

"Leia! Han!" Luke cried out, a fresh wave of grief hitting him at the sight of his dead family, and washing over everyone in the hanger.

Ben put a finger to his lips to silence his father, but he needn't have bothered; Jacen seemed oblivious to what was going on around him. He sat there on the cold, hard floor, stroking Tahiri's wavy blonde hair absentmindedly, and staring in to space.

Mara helped her husband over to where their son was standing; not because he was injured, but because he was so over-come with heartache that he couldn't move on his own.

"Jacen…" Luke coaxed, his voice hoarse from crying.

His nephew turned his head slowly to face Luke, Jacen's brown eyes glassy and unfocused. "I killed them," he whispered to no one in particular. "I killed _her_." His sweaty fingertips lightly traced over Tahiri's delicate features.

Tahiri stirred beneath his touch. "Jacen?" she croaked.

Jacen's eyes regained their focus, and he patted her head gingerly. "Shhh…" he hushed.

She was weak - very weak. And she was slipping away.

"Jacen…" she croaked again, her voice barely above a whisper. "Don't-don't-don't…"

He put a finger to Tahiri's frigid lips, trying to silence her again. He knew what she was trying to say.

"It's too late, Tahiri," he said, his voice breaking, "It's done."

Tahiri started to shake, like she was crying without the tears. He patted her head again, using the force to try and calm her.

It was then that he noticed just how badly she was injured. Her insides were fried, her cells burning with the force and on the verge of bursting.

"Y-you can't s-save me, Jacen," she wheezed.

Tears were streaming down his face. "I'm sorry, Tahiri, I'm sorry," he cried.

It was her turn to hush him. "Shhh…It's o-ok." She brought her hand up and touched his face, wiping away his tears. "You c-can save them, J-Jacen," she whispered. Her hand lost its warmth, and began to slide down his cheek.

His tears started to flow even faster. "Save who, Tahiri?"

"I have faith in you." Her hand slid off his face, and he knew she was gone.

"Jacen?" Luke called.

He turned to his Uncle, and his gaze fell on the fallen forms of his parents, slain by his own blade. He knew what Tahiri had meant. He might not have been able to save her, but he knew what he had to do next. He had to save his family, and there was only one way he could do that now.

"I'm sorry, Uncle," he said, closing his eyes and letting the force flood his mind and fill his entire body.

It was time to fix his mistakes; it was time to become a _hero_.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Luke watched as his nephew closed his eyes and crossed his legs on the cold, hard floor. He began to float upward slowly, his body rigid, and his limbs glowing with the purity of the force.

"Jacen?" Luke questioned uneasily. He'd never seen anything like it in his entire life, and the sight sent shivers down the Jedi Master's spine.

Mara ignited her lightsaber and took a forceful step toward Jacen, ready to defend them from whatever weapon he was planning to use.

Luke rested a shaking hand on his wife's forearm, gently nudging the glowing blade down from its position across her chest.

Despite all of the evils his nephew had committed over the years, Luke knew that whatever was happening in front of them right now, it was not some ancient Sith weapon.

Call it force intuition; or call it love. He knew that letting Jacen continue was the right thing to do; it was the will of the force.

"Are you _insane_?" Mara hissed, pulling Luke's mind out of the fog and back to the present. "He just killed Han and Leia, and Tahiri, and you're just going to let him kill more people?"

"He's not going to kill anyone else," Luke whispered in reply, his pale blue eyes clouding over as he gave his mind to the force.

"And how do you know that?"

"I just know. I can feel him in the force; his mind; his thoughts. He's been saved, Mara. Han and Leia and Tahiri – they saved him."

Mara simply nodded with acceptance, and gripped her husband's hand as they stood in silence, watching Jacen soar higher and higher above them.

He was so absorbed in the force now that his entire body was one big ball of burning golden light.

Soon, he would be one with the force.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Jacen's lungs screamed for oxygen, but he dared not open his mouth.

This was the most important moment of his life. What he was about to do had to be done. It was his destiny; his _real_ destiny.

His time with the Aing-Tii had resulted in him receiving an extraordinary gift: the gift to alter the past.

It was with this gift that Jacen was going to fix his mistakes; save his parents, his family…_his_ Tahiri.

He had loved her, more than he thought possible. More than he should have. And then he had killed her; his love.

In an ironic sort of way, her death was the trigger that had brought him back to the light. She had saved him, and she had told him he could save them; his family.

He wasn't going to let her down; not again.

There was a flash of blinding light, as the last of Jacen's consciousness drifted away into the force.

And then the earth shook.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19: Myrkr. **

There was a muffled cry, and then an explosion that shook the earth. A mass of rocks, tree stumps and twisted metal flew through the air like missiles.

She hit the ground hard, the shock wave from the explosion knocking her off her feet.

Unable to regain her balance, she plummeted down a shallow ravine, rolling end over end until she came to rest in a particularly prickly bush.

She'd had the wind knocked out of her, and for a few seconds at least, all she could do was lay amongst the prickles, groaning inwardly.

There was a ringing in her ears, possibly due to her close proximity to the concussion bomb. Through the ringing, she could make out the sound of someone calling her name; at least, she thought it was her name.

_"-iri!" _

It was faint, as if the person were calling to her from a great distance; and the voice was vaguely familiar.

_"-iri!"_ the voice called again, louder this time.

She rolled onto her side and tried to open her eyes. They were so full of grit from her little cross-country acrobatics act that they began to water instantly, blurring her vision.  
She rubbed at her eyes with a pair of balled-up fists, trying to expel the dust and dirt, but she only managed to rub the grit in further, causing them to burn even more than they were before.

_"Tahiri!"_ the voice called again.

It was so close now that she could tell the voice belonged to a young male. She opened her mouth to reply, but all the movement managed to do was send her in to a coughing fit.

A hand reached out from behind the bush, grabbing her by the shoulder firmly. She screamed reflexively, the action sending her in to another fit of coughs.

"Tahiri, are you ok?" the young man asked, a note of concern in his voice.

Her attempt to reply resulted in another violent cough, so she simply nodded. He put his arms around her waist and hoisted her to her feet.

It was then that Tahiri came face to face with the young man, the sight of him sending a jolt of electricity through her entire body.

_Those ice blue eyes were unmistakable… _

"Anakin?" Tahiri croaked hoarsely. "Is that really you?" The last cough had dispelled the majority of the dust from her lungs, allowing her to talk again.

"Yes," Anakin replied, "Last time I checked." He stepped closer to her, his blue eyes searching hers.  
"Are you sure you're ok?" he asked again, rubbing his hands up and down her arms. They were warm, and for some reason his touch made her nervous. She jumped in his grasp.

"Maybe we should rest a while," he suggested, leading her to the edge of the ravine. "That last concussion bomb seems to have dazed you a little, and I'm sure the others wouldn't protest to having a little break."

_The others… _

Tahiri glanced around them, and as her eyes adjusted to the dim light, she noticed for the first time half a dozen shadows nestled in between the trees above.

As she focused on the figures, she saw that they were all wielding lightsabers; they were all _Jedi! _

One by one, the Jedi turned to face her, and she saw that these particular Jedi were not just any Jedi – Jania, Tesar, Lowie, Alema, Rayner and Ganner were all there.

They moved from their position in the trees, and Tahiri caught sight of more Jedi: Zekk, Tenel Ka, Bela, Tekli, Welk and Lomi Plo.

Her gaze came to rest upon the last Jedi. He was the tallest of the group; lean and muscular, with scruffy brown hair and deep hazel eyes.

_Jacen! _

As their eyes locked, a myriad of memories swam to the surface in Tahiri's mind.

_"Your parents are down there."  
"I know"  
"What would you like me to do?"  
"You just worry about your squadron and the mission, soldier. I'll deal with my parents."_

"Anakin would be ashamed of you."  
"I'm afraid you're all coming with me."  
"And what if we refuse?"  
"I said I wouldn't kill you…but I never said I wouldn't hurt you."  
"Would you listen to yourself, Tahiri, you're beginning to sound just like Jacen!"  
"I am just like Jacen!"  
"In a way, it's lucky that Anakin is no longer with us. It would have killed him to see you turn out like this."  
"You have to get out of here. If you don't, Jacen will kill you."

"You're just like the rest of them aren't you? You pretend to be loyal, but what you really are is a traitor!"  
"You can't do this, Jacen! You can't do this! These are your parents! Think of your sister! Think of what this would do to Jania!"  
"I DON'T HAVE ANY PARENTS!"  
"I can't let you hurt them!"  
"Tahiri! Get out of here!"

"Leia! Han!"  
"Jacen…"  
"It's too late, Tahiri. It's done."  
"Y-you can't s-save me, Jacen."  
"I'm sorry, Tahiri, I'm sorry."  
"It's o-ok. You c-can save them, J-Jacen. I have faith in you." 

Tahiri took a better look at her surroundings; red dirt, dense forest, and somewhere in the distance, she heard a Yuuzhan Vong battle cry.

"Anakin," she asked tentatively, turning back to face him. "Where are we?"

She already knew the answer, but it was so unbelievable that she needed to hear it from him.

"You mean you don't remember where we are?" Anakin questioned, gripping her shoulders more tightly.

"We're on Myrkr."


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20: The Key **

"Myrkr," Tahiri echoed, staring blanking at her surroundings.

_"How did I get here?" _she wondered to herself.

The last thing she remembered was seeing Han and Leia charge Jacen on Corellia, and then hearing Jacen tell her he was sorry. She couldn't recall anything after that, until she fell into the prickle bush.

Tahiri's mind drifted back to the present, and she noticed Anakin ushering Tekli over with a med-pack.

"Oh, no, I'm no hurt," she protested, pushing the little Chadra-Fan's furry hands away. Under instruction from Anakin, Tekli ignored her, forcing Tahiri to the ground and applying some bacta-gel to a gash above her right eye.

"Anakin, I'm serious!" Tahiri cried, propping herself up on her elbows. "Save this stuff for someone who really needs it!"

_"Like you,"_ she thought.

Anakin motioned for Tekli to stop, and the little Chadra-Fan packed up the med-pack and helped Tahiri to her feet.

"Are you ready to get back out there?" he asked her, his ice blue eyes boring into hers.

_They were so hypnotizing..._

"Tahiri?" Anakin asked. It occurred to her that she hadn't answered him, and she simply nodded.

The group began to head back into the battlefield. Jacen came into view, his eyes meeting Tahiri's with an ionic jolt. There was something in his gaze that she couldn't quite put her finger on. He seemed older somehow, and hardened; but that couldn't be possible.

_Unless..._

Tahiri grabbed Anakin by his shirt sleeve. He turned to face her, a flash of concern in his eyes. "You know, that concussion bomb really dazed me," she lied. "Perhaps resting a while might be a good idea after all."

Anakin sighed and ordered the other Jedi back again. "We're gonna take a break, guys," he announced. "There's a cave over the other side of this ravine. If we set up a couple of sentries, we should be able to get a decent rest, and maybe even squeeze in a bit of healing."

There was no argument at that, and the group of Jedi dragged their weary feet toward the cave Anakin had pointed out. A rest and a healing trance would be a welcome change from all the fighting they'd been doing the last few days.

As she walked toward the cave, Tahiri caught Jacen's eye again. He changed direction and began to head over to her, but was blocked off by Anakin.

"When we get settled, I want you in a healing trance," he said to her.

She opened her mouth to object, but was stopped by Anakin's hand on her lips.

"No buts," he ordered, his voice stern. "I want you as well as you can possibly be when we go back out there." His voice softened, and he stopped walking to brush a stray lock of blonde hair off her forehead.

"I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you." He leaned toward her, closing his eyes and touching his lips to hers. They were soft and warm, and Tahiri opened her mouth slightly, savoring the sweetness of the kiss.

Reluctantly, she pulled away. Anakin flashed her his famous Solo grin, and together they continued on toward the cave, hand in hand.

"I'd forgotten how wonderful that felt," Tahiri murmured, clutching Anakin's hand more tightly.

"How wonderful what felt?" he asked.

"Kissing you," she replied, blushing slightly.

Anakin grinned, a sparkle in his blue eyes. "Well then, I guess I'll have to kiss you more often. I can't have you forgetting what it feels like, again, can I?"

"Anakin Solo, I think that's the best idea you've ever had," Tahiri giggled, leaning in for another kiss.

"Will you look at those two," his twin remarked to him, as Jacen fell into step beside her.

He followed Jaina's gaze to the sight of their little brother and Tahiri, laughing and holding hands.

"You'd think we were in a holo-vid or something, rather than a life-threatening war."

Jacen just nodded in reply. He really couldn't care less right now whether his little brother was holding hands with a girl or not; he had bigger things on his mind.

_"Like what I saw just before that last concussion bomb,"_ he said to himself.

He saw Jaina raise an eyebrow quizzically at him when he didn't answer her, so he threw her a forced smile in an attempt to rid himself of her scrutiny.

It didn't work.

"Are you ok?" she asked him, her brow creasing in concern. "You seem awfully quiet all of a sudden."

"Of course I'm quite!" Jacen snapped. "Like you said before, this is a life-threatening situation, so I would think the obvious reaction to that would be silence."

Jaina shrank back at his agitated tone of voice, and Jacen felt a pang of guilt for the way he had spoken to her; but only for a moment. It needed to be done. He couldn't have her snooping around in his mind, not after what he had just seen.

A part of him still didn't believe it himself.

He'd been up on the slope, darting in and out of the trees, dodging a voxyn attack, when he'd seen it – the luminous spectre of a young male in his thirties. It was only when he had gotten closer to the man, that he had worked out he was actually looking at an older version of himself.

The sight was quite shocking, and for a time, all Jacen could do was stand and stare at his older self.

Before he could properly regain his composure, a concussion bomb had exploded nearby, showering the area with rock shards and suffocating him with toxic smoke.

Through the ringing in his ears, he'd heard the word _"Tahiri"_ echo around the slope.

When the smoke had cleared, Jacen had focused his attention back where he'd been looking moments ago, and was unsurprised to find the vision of his older self gone.

That was why he still wasn't sure about what he'd seen. The vision had come and gone so quickly, he wondered whether his lack of sleep was finally catching up with him.

Tahiri turned her head in his direction, and their gazes locked again, like they had done earlier. The same ionic jolt coursed through his body, and in that mild epiphany, Jacen knew that what he had seen had been real.

And from the look in her eyes, he could tell Tahiri knew as well.

He needed to talk with her, that much was clear, but the problem with that would be getting her alone for long enough to talk to her about it, without being interrupted by Anakin or overheard by another strike team member.

What he had to say would sound crazy enough without the rest of the team getting wind of his vision.

A cool breeze tickled the back of his neck, and Jacen slowed his pace long enough to tilt his head to the left.

His breath caught in his throat as his widened brown eyes came to rest on two solitary figures, wedged between dense foliage.

The older Jacen was back, only this time, he had a companion..._Tahiri!_

But she wasn't the Tahiri he knew; she was taller, more muscular, and her face held a hardness he'd never seen in her before.

Jacen shook his head and closed his eyes, willing the apparitions to go away, and telling himself he wasn't going crazy.

When he opened them again, they were still standing there, the mouth of his older self twisting into a satisfied smirk, and the scars above Tahiri's brow creasing in amusement.

His older self opened his mouth slowly and whispered a single word, the wind carrying it to his ears and reverberating it in his mind: _"Tahiri."_

In a dazzling display of light, the visions were gone.

Jacen quickly spun around to see if Jaina or any of the others had seen anything, and was a little disappointed to see that they were all still facing forward and trudging slowly ahead to their resting place.

Feeling his analysis in the force, Jaina turned to face him, the corners of her eyes wrinkling in perplexity.

"Are you ok, brother?"

"Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

Jaina threw him another long, puzzled look. "You've stopped. I thought maybe..."

"Everything's fine," he cut her off hastily.

He could tell she didn't want to just take his word for it, but right now, while they were out in the open, they didn't have time to chat. She grudgingly dropped the subject and focused her awareness back towards the front of the group.

Jacen let out a long breath he didn't know he'd been holding and stared at the back of the young blonde Jedi's head.

He didn't know what was going on, but it was definitely something big, and Tahiri was the key to that big something.

Once they got to the cave, he definitely needed to have a private chat with her.

But first, he needed to get Anakin out of the way long enough, before that could happen.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21: Guidance & Realization. **

Tahiri was woken from her healing trance by a tap on the shoulder and a gentle nudge through the force. She stirred, rolling out of her boyfriend's embrace, and sat up.

Despite her objections, Anakin had insisted that she use this break to heal her body. There were a number of other things she'd rather be doing, but in the end, she'd grudgingly accepted his request.

She rubbed at her eyes and yawned, her gaze resting on the blurred form of Jaina Solo.

"You're up next on sentry duty," Jaina whispered, stepping over the bodies sprawled across the cave's floor and sitting down in a corner next to her friend, Zekk. "Jacen's already over there."

"Thanks," Tahiri said, but the other Jedi was already too deep in her trance to hear her.

She kissed Anakin on the forehead and then headed to the cave entrance to start her shift. As much as she would have loved to have her sentry duty with Anakin, she'd chosen Jacen, because she needed some answers. There'd been something in his eyes when he'd looked at her earlier; something she couldn't quite put her finger on, but that suggested he knew what was going on.

Tahiri recalled the look on his face when she'd chosen to do her shift with him, and almost relieved smile spreading across his handsome features, his force-aura emanating a similar expression. It was almost like he'd been hoping for some time alone with her.

She crept quietly through the pile of Jedi on the floor and sat down on a rock just inside the entrance, opposite a stiff-postured Jacen. He was staring into space, his hazel eyes hard and unfocused.

Tahiri was about to interrupt him, but thought better of it. They had three hours until Anakin and Alema took over the lookout, so she stared out into the black of night also, waiting for Jacen to speak when he was ready.

She didn't have to wait long. Not even ten minutes had gone by when he turned to face her, the look in his eyes the same as it had been earlier that day.

Tahiri shifted her position on the rock and cleared her throat. She opened her mouth to speak, but snapped it shut seconds later. _What was she supposed to say?_

Jacen continued to stare at her expectantly, waiting patiently for her to begin the conversation. After testing out a number of sentences in her head, Tahiri decided to just be blunt and say exactly what was on her mind. It had always worked for her before.

"Why are we back here?"

Jacen's eyes narrowed slightly in confusion before he answered her. "I'm not sure I know what you're asking, Tahiri."

She sighed. Tahiri had thought for sure that he would know what was going on - why they were back on Myrkr. Clearly, he had no idea.

_"Am I going insane?"_ she thought.

"I hope not," Jacen said in reply to her silent question.

_"Sithspawn!"_ she cursed to herself. _"Does this kriffing battle meld have to pick up __**everything**__?"_

"Don't curse, Tahiri, it's not ladylike," he reprimanded.

Tahiri growled at Jacen and turned away, facing the wall of the cave. She now regretted her choice of sentry partner wholeheartedly, especially since Alema had relished the chance to spend three hours alone with Anakin!

The Twi'lek could barely contain her drool when she'd been paired with the youngest Solo, and, with this thought in mind, Tahiri began to contemplate all of the things she would do to Alema if she tried anything with her boyfriend.

A hand appeared on her shoulder out of nowhere, breaking into her vengeful reverie.

It was Jacen.

Tahiri sat up straighter as he took a seat beside her. The lines on his face had hardened somewhat, and his expression was now more serious. Had he been reading her thoughts on Alema and Anakin?

"Did you notice anything strange before?"

It was Tahiri's turn to be confused. That was an odd question, even coming from Jacen, and had she not been so stunned, she would have breathed a sigh of relief that he'd missed her revenge plans regarding Alema.

Maybe he knew something about what was going on after all.

The look on her face must have bothered Jacen, because his cheeks flushed a brilliant shade of crimson, and his words began to fall out of his mouth at an incomprehensible speed.

"Didu yotice anythinstrang beforeonthe ravin?"

His blush deepened and he tried again, a small cough escaping his lips.

"Did you notice anything strange before on the ravin? Did you see me?"

"Of course I saw you, dummy!"

Jacen's expression softened with visible relief. "Oh, thank the Force! You _do _know what I'm talking about! For a minute there, I thought maybe I was going crazy!"

Tahiri groaned inwardly and ran a calloused hand through her matted blonde hair.

"What's wrong?" he asked her, concerned.

"Nothing."

"Ok…so…when you saw me on the ravine, did you, by any chance, see yourself with me?"

Her head shot up in Jacen's direction, alarm flashing through her deep green eyes. "Excuse me? What in _Sith _are you talking about?"

Jacen's hand flailed about in front of him nervously, and his voice took on a flustered tone. "When you said you'd seen me…were you with me as well, or was I by myself?"

"Of course I wasn't with you!" Tahiri replied in frustration. "I was down with Anakin. Remember?"

"Right," he answered stiffly, clearly embarrassed that he'd said anything at all. He turned away from her, and at the same time, withdrew his presence from the force.

She knew there was more to the story than Jacen was telling, and his inability to confide in her about it only increased her irritation. "Are you going to tell me what's going on, or do I have to beat it out of you?"

Her indignant tone brought his mental barriers down a fraction, and for a split second, Tahiri was able to catch a glimpse of his inner turmoil and confusion. She watched as he took a deep breath, obviously preparing himself for what he was going to reveal next.

"I saw myself on top of the ravine, right before the concussion bomb blew, and then again, while we were heading to the cave."

Tahiri took a moment to fully comprehend his words before replying. "You saw yourself? Like, a second you?"

"Yes. An older version of me."

"How is that possible?" she gasped in return.

"I don't know. All I know is that is was no illusion. I was really there, and…" he paused and gazed into her emerald orbs. "And, so were you. There was another you as well, Tahiri."

This caught her attention, more than anything else he'd spoken in the entire conversation.

"Another me…"

As she echoed his words, something inside of her clicked.

_"You c-can save them, J-Jacen."_

And finally she understood. Jacen had brought them back here – to Myrkr – to undo their mistakes; to change the future…and the only way to do that would be to…

"Save Anakin!"

Jacen instinctively averted his gaze in the direction of his sleeping brother at the mention of his name, before bringing it down to bear on Tahiri again, his brow furrowed. "What are you on about? There's nothing wrong with Anakin."

"Not yet there's not, but trust me, there will be soon." She stood from her sitting position and began to pace back and forth in the cave's entrance.

"How do you know that?"

Tahiri stopped pacing long enough to shoot Jacen a meaningful stare. "Because I've been here before."

Her statement didn't seem to bother him as much as she'd thought it would, or maybe it did, and he just didn't show it.

"Like in a vision?" he questioned.

She shook her head. "No, not in a vision. I mean I've really been here before. Physically."

"Oh," was all Jacen said in reply. For a short moment, he tilted his head in concentration, and Tahiri could tell that he was taking his time in order to choose his words carefully.

_"So then you really are the key…"_

It wasn't a question; it was a declaration, and his ethereal tone spooked Tahiri a little. This whole time, he'd acted like he had no idea what was going on - even sounding downright crazy a few times – but now, it was like he knew everything she did, and more.

"The key?"

She watched as Jacen's eyes took in how rigidly her dirty hands sat on her hips, and how they slowly traveled up the rest of her body, before locking with hers in the same ionic jolt she'd felt earlier that day.

_"You're the key,"_ he said, his voice still with the ghostly tone. _"You're the reason we're here, and you know what I have to do."_

He cleared his throat, his dark eyes widening in shock at what he'd just said. Tahiri got the distinct impression that the person speaking to her just moments ago was not the Jacen she knew from the Jedi Academy, but rather the Jacen she knew from the New Jedi Order – the Jacen from the Alliance.

Her mouth quirked in an amused grin as all of the puzzle pieces finally fell into place. Jacen knew he was here for a reason, but he didn't know what that reason was. That was why Tahiri remembered being here; it was her job to guide Jacen, and help him complete his task.  
_  
To save Anakin from certain death._

She sat back down next to Jacen and took his hand in hers. "There is something you must know; something about the future…about what's going to happen to you, and to the rest of us."

Jacen said nothing, choosing to remain silent for now, and let Tahiri tell her story.

"After this mission, everything falls apart for the people you love most. Jaina turns to the darkside, you are captured by the Yuuzhan Vong, and subsequently tortured, and your brother…Anakin dies."

Tahiri paused, letting the force of her words sink in before continuing.

"Anakin dies?"

"Yes. Here. On Myrkr." Her eyes welled with tears, but she shook them away. "Soon."

"So that's what I have to do. I have to prevent my brother from dying?"

"Yes, but I think there's more to it than that." She let her gaze fall to her feet, and Jacen disentangled himself from her hands, lifting her chin with his cold fingertips so that she was once again looking into his dark eyes.

"Tahiri, what is it? If I'm going to do this – if I'm going to save Anakin, then you have to tell me everything."

She spied a tuft of grass that was sticking out of a crevice in the rock and began to tug at it anxiously. "It's going to be quite a shock for you to hear this…"

"I need to know," he insisted.

She sighed and let the sticky grass slip out of her grasp. He was right. There was no way she could get around not telling him the truth of what would happen in the future. Maybe it would even strengthen his resolve of what needed to be done.

"After the Myrkr mission, and after Anakin died, you were captured by Vergere," Tahiri began to explain.

"That Yuuzhan Vong bird?"

"Yes. Nearly everyone thought you were dead. You were missing for a very long time. But then you came back. You were a different person, and your view of the force had changed. You went on a personal quest, studying all aspects of the force. A lot of things happened during this time. We won the war with the Yuuzhan Vong, only to start another with the Killik swarm."

"The Killik swarm?"

"Don't worry about that, it's not important right now. After the swarm war, things between the Alliance and the planets under its rule began to turn…hostile. Corellia and a few like-minded civilizations decided to declare war on the Alliance, and your parents of course supported your father's home world."

"Which side did I support?" Jacen asked uneasily.

"The Alliance," Tahiri said simply. "You were a completely different person to the one you are now. You were under the guidance of Lumiya, Lady of the Sith. You were no longer Jedi – you were dark, just like your Master."

Jacen inhaled sharply. "A Sith? Tahiri, I'm afraid you must be mistaken. Sith are evil beings, like Lomi and Welk, who destroy life for their own sick pleasure. I would never…"

"But you did, and you will," she cut him off harshly. "Like I said before, after Anakin's death and your imprisonment at the hands of Vergere and the Yuuzhan Vong, you changed."

He said nothing in reply to this, but Tahiri could see his pink-flushed cheeks change to pale green. "Trust me, it gets worse," she warned.

"Worse?" he croaked, his face paling every more. "How much worse could it possibly get?"

Tahiri ignored his panicked question and persisted. "Once you fell from the light, you took on a Sith apprentice – Ben Skywalker. You trained him in the ways Lumiya and Vergere had trained you, but you also took on a second apprentice…me. Somewhere along the line, Ben swayed from your tutorage, and in the end, sided with his family, and Corellia."

She stopped again to catch her breath. "After a few years of civil war, the Alliance grew tired of in-fighting, and decided to put an end to it once and for all. You and I led a strike team of Galactic Alliance Guard and pro-Alliance Jedi to the source of the insurgence – Corellia – where we had hoped to wipe them out."

Jacen's mouth opened in disbelief, but remained silent, and Tahiri took note of his still-green skin.

"Things didn't go the way you'd planned. Ben Skywalker had betrayed your confidence, and because of this, the Alliance lost the war. But before you could admit defeat, there was something you had to do."

"And what was that?"

Tahiri swallowed the lump that had risen in her throat, bracing herself for what she had to say next. "You had to kill your parents."

Jacen immediately turned away from her probing gaze, bowing his head and staring at his mud-drenched boots.

"I tried to stop you, but you were so angry, and so full of hate. You hit me first with a wave of force-lightning, and then, while I was down, you killed them."

She noticed that the ground beneath Jacen's feet was damp, so she half-rose from the rock, intending to kneel beside him in comfort, when he lifted his head, revealing an ashen face streaked with tears.

"And what about you? Did I kill you, too?" he asked, his voice breaking with emotion.

"Yes," Tahiri said, nodding. "But before I died, I spoke to you. You told me you were sorry for what you had done, and I told you that you had to save them."

"My parents?" His tear-lined face was so contorted with pain that she barely recognized him.

"Yes, your parents."

He stood up quickly and ran a hand over his wet face, spreading the dampened dirt on his cheekbones in circular patterns. A tense silence fell between them for the longest time, and was only broken by a short chuckle from Jacen.

"Did you know I've been trying to get a moment alone with you ever since that concussion bomb blew?"

The sudden change in subject concerned Tahiri, but not nearly as much as the derisive tone he'd used. She'd known he wasn't going to cope well with what she'd had to tell him, but she'd had no idea he was going to react in this manner. She was about to reply to his odd question when he turned back to face her, his sly Solo grin putting her worries to rest for the moment.

"It's been so difficult. Anakin has been sticking to you like Dagobah swamp paste all day, and I was so relieved when asked to take up sentry duty with me."

Tahiri smiled at Jacen's observation. It was true. Since the incident at the ravine, Anakin hadn't left her side, for fear that something would happen to her. While it had obviously annoyed his brother a great deal, the only thing it did for Tahiri was warm her insides. To be loved by someone was an amazing feeling, and knowing how the mission ended only managed to make the sentiment from Anakin that bit more special.

But she didn't need to worry about the mission's ending anymore. All that was about to change.

She turned her attention back to Jacen, and was shocked to see that he was crying again, a heavy wave of tears cascading down his dirt-smudged face. He wasn't trying to block his feelings in the force anymore, either - his inner sorrow and steely resolve so strong they almost bowled Tahiri over.

"You know what you have to do, don't you?"

Jacen's mournful gaze hardened, and he brushed the tears from his eyes. "Yes. I know what I have to do."

"And what's that exactly?" a voice asked from behind them.

Both Jacen and Tahiri spun on their heels, grabbing their lightsabers from their utility belts, igniting them, and thrusting them out at the intruder in one fluid movement.

Their glowing blades stopped inches from the shadowy forms of Anakin Solo and Alema Ra. Evidently their three hours were up already.

Jacen eyed Tahiri uncertainly as they switched off their swords and re-attached them to their belts. "I, ah, have to get some rest tomorrow," he answered his brother. "Tomorrow's an important day," he whispered in an after-thought.

He took Tahiri by the hand and led her back into the cave to continue their conversation, leaving Anakin to stare after their retreating forms, perplexed. 

----

"What was that all about?" Alema asked as she flopped down on a nearby rock.

Anakin stared in the direction of his brother and Tahiri and shrugged.

He was doing his best to appear nonchalant. The last thing Anakin needed right now was for Alema or any other member of the strike team to catch on to what he was thinking.

He took one last, longing look at his girlfriend's bobbing blonde locks, before setting himself down on the dirt in a cross-legged position.

_Girlfriend…_

Anakin wasn't sure when it had happened exactly. They'd been best friends for years, and after the incident on Yag'Dhul, they'd just sort of naturally transitioned into more than just friends.

Not that he was complaining. Tahiri was a perfect companion for him; his complete opposite in every way; her strengths complimenting his weaknesses like no one else's could.

And he loved her.

_Love…_

Anakin let his thin lips curve in roguish grin. Growing up with his parents, he'd always hoped that one day he could have such a relationship, but he'd never dreamed he would find it so young.

Then again, he'd never dreamed of being a war veteran at the tender age of seventeen, either.

It seemed he was destined to live a lifetime in a few short years.

He glanced back and saw his brother placing Tahiri in another healing trance, and a tear formed in the back of one ice blue eye. Anakin only wished that he wasn't destined to live his _whole _life in just a few years.

There were still so many things he wanted to do…

Anakin shook his head, ridding himself of such negative thoughts. It was not the time to be thinking things like that, and any concern he might have for himself or the rest of the group would only to spill into the battle meld and cause even more disquiet.

He'd already let them down once, and he wasn't about to do it again.

"Earth to Anakin, are you with me?" he heard Alema remark from beside him.

The youngest Solo tilted his tousled head to the left and saw that the Twi'lek was now sitting next to him, also in a cross-legged pose. From the look on her face, she'd been trying to get his attention for quite some time.

An apologetic blush crept across his neck, and he lowered his gaze from her revealing jumpsuit, which she'd tactlessly thrust in his face. "Sorry."

He noticed her scrutinizing gaze run up and down the length of his body before she triumphantly exclaimed: "You're jealous of Jacen and Tahiri, aren't you?"

"NO!" he protested loudly, before the words were even fully out of her mouth. His distressed tone reverberated around the cave, the noise causing a few of the Jedi to stir in their trances. Thankfully, none woke up.

Alema let out a sharp cackle at his prompt reply. "Yes, you are." The Twi'lek stole a fleeting look at the sleeping form of Tahiri, who was now laying curled up in Jacen's strong grasp.

He followed her line of vision, and couldn't help the scowl that instantly formed on his face. Anakin turned away in repugnance; more at his own stupid reaction than what he actually saw.

"See, you _are _jealous," Alema repeated in a melodic tone.

His grimace spread even further at the pure delight he found in her voice.

"I'm not jealous," Anakin insisted firmly, glowering in her direction and finding enjoyment at the fact that his stern expression caused the Twi'lek to shrink back. He stared at his hands, which were covered in water-marked patches of dried dirt, and sighed heavily. "I'm just a little worried, to be honest. Jacen's been acting strange ever since we left the ravine. Actually, both he _and _Tahiri have been acting differently."

Alema took a moment to ponder his words before answering. "You're right; Jacen has been different since the ravine. But as for Tahiri…I haven't really noticed much of a change. She's been strange for a long time now, ever since her capture on Yavin. I'm surprised you hadn't noticed a change in her before now."

This only managed to incense Anakin further, and from what little he knew of the female psyche, deduced that it was probably her intention to start with.

He used the force to calm his burning insides, not wanting to give Alema the satisfaction of knowing she'd gotten under his skin. When he replied, his voice was cool and collected, and the sharp annoyance he felt through the force told him that this was not what the reaction she had anticipated.

"I _had _noticed a change in Tahiri before now. You're absolutely right, Alema, her shaping on Yavin has changed her dramatically, but for the better, I feel. She's grown up a lot, and her new attitude only makes me respect and love her even more."

Anakin turned away from the fuming Twi'lek, grinning smugly at the shocked look on her blue-skinned face. Out of the corner of his eye, he could make out her pair of lekku twitching in frustration.

They fell into a tense silence then, and Anakin's thoughts quickly drifted back to the mission and his fears on what would happen to the strike team. So far, every single plan or notion he'd had before they'd left for Myrkr had fallen apart and although he'd never admit it to anyone, his anxiety about their safety was growing as each hour passed.

He feared for his own life, sure, but even more so for the lives of the people closest to his heart: Jacen, Jaina…and Tahiri.

As he sat on the dusty cave floor, Anakin made a silent promise to himself – as long as there was a breath left in his body, he would not let anything happen to the people he loved.

He would rather die than lose one of them.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22: Trying Times**

The early morning sun cast an eerie orange glow over Myrkr's fractured landscape, the light shining through a heavy layer of low-lying fog, which clung to the jumpsuits of the Jedi, slowly soaking through the synthetic fabric.

It had been two days since their rest at the cave, and after this much-needed break, they'd continued on their journey toward the voxyn lair, barely pausing for sleep.

The moonlight hours were the worst time for a nap, as the voxyn were primarily nocturnal hunters; however, during the day, there was a greater chance of being caught by Nom Anor and his army of warriors, so stopping then was almost as dangerous.

If it wasn't for the force and the encouragement the battle meld gave them, the Jedi would have succumbed to their exhaustion long ago.

As usual, Anakin was at the head of the group, his elder sister at his side, and the Twi'lek Alema Ra trailing annoyingly close behind. Following those three were the two dark Jedi, Lomi and Welk, with Zekk shadowing their every move, and Ganner, who'd been lumped with the arduous task of keeping his friend's misgivings out of the meld.

The remaining Jedi fell into step behind the decoy leader, with Jacen and Tahiri bringing up the rear.

Jaina watched as her younger brother cast yet another withering glare at the end of the pack, his frustration growing as her turned back to face the front.

"If you're that worried about them, why don't you go and talk to them?" she suggested lightly.

His response wasn't what she'd hoped for, but it was what she had expected. "I'm not worried!" he snapped.

Jaina held up her hands in defense and let the indignation she felt at his behavior roll off her tongue. "If you're not worried, they why don't you lose the negatude? You're starting to affect the group."

It wasn't the truth, exactly. She hadn't felt any change in the meld's atmosphere – yet – but if Anakin didn't quell his anger soon, there certainly would be.

Luckily, her brother didn't notice this slight untruth, and he immediately began to withdraw his negative feelings from the force. "Sorry," he mumbled, the word coming out as a low grunt, as he leapt over a fallen tree branch.

He flashed her a small smile, and Jaina did the same in return, content with the silence that followed. After all, she'd planted the seed in his mind, and it was now only a matter of time before he cracked under the pressure and opened up.

It was for his own good.

They had trekked maybe another kilometer when Anakin slowed his pace and tilted his head in her direction. "Ever since the ravine, they've been inseparable, and it just bothers me."

Jaina let this admission hang in the air a moment before responding. She didn't want to spook her brother into clamping shut again by being too over-eager to discuss the subject.

"What bothers you?" she asked, slipping a hint of confusion in her voice.

"Seeing them together."

She paused between replying again, seemingly pondering his observation, and continued. "I'm sorry, but why does seeing them together bother you?"

A scowl flashed across his dirty features, and Jaina was unable to keep herself from blurting the obvious: "You're jealous!"

Anakin turned a pair of burning ice eyes on her. "Would you keep your voice down!" he hissed. His gaze flicked nervously over the faces of the other strike team members, making sure they hadn't over-heard the conversation. When he was satisfied with the outcome, he stared back at Jaina.

"Sorry," she murmured.

The older Solo followed her brother's line of vision from earlier and took in Jacen and Tahiri's close proximity. If she didn't know them better, she'd be just as worried as Anakin. But the fact of the matter was, she _did_ know them better – Jacen, at least – and he would never do that to his baby brother.

On analyzing their body language further, Jaina came to the conclusion that the pair was more likely hiding something disturbing, and not in a relationship sense. The way their brows were constantly creased, and the pained expression plastered across Tahiri's delicate face, suggested that the two were planning something, or discussing something, that was both secretive and risky.

In her opinion, this possibility was a lot more worrying.

Breaking out of her train of thought, she let her concentration drift back to the task at hand – getting to the voxyn den…alive.

She and her brother fell into another pit of silence, this one more awkward and tense than the last.

The team finally made it to a small alcove, and Anakin called a short recess, allowing the Jedi to down some sustenance, and catch their bearings a little. Jaina took the opportunity to continue their conversation from before, pulling her younger brother aside, and lowering her voice to a whisper.

"You shouldn't be wasting your energy on petty jealousy. Not with the state the group's in."

Her harsh words struck a cord in Anakin, as the group had been troubled a number of times by Zekk's distrust in his leadership due to the presence of the dark Jedi, and he let out a long, exaggerated sight.

"I know. I'm trying not to let it bother me – really. It's just that the other night at the cave, Alema and I walked in on something, and then she pointed out…"

"Alema." Jaina's face darkened. Why did it not surprise her that the overly flirtatious Twi'lek had something to do with his new found doubts? It was plainly evident to her that Alema had strong feelings for her little brother, so it made sense that she would try and plant qualms in his head concerning Tahiri's faithfulness.

She caught the Twi'lek's eye and shot her a contemptuous glare.

"You don't need to worry about Jacen and Tahiri like that, little brother. He's so much older than her, and thinks of her as he would a sister. And besides, I get the feeling that Jasa and Tenel Ka have something going on."

Anakin's eyebrows shot into his hairline, and he stole a glance at the regal Hapan. "Tenel Ka and Jacen? No," he said, shaking his head dismissively. "They're just…"

"Friends?" Jaina finished for him. "Like you and Tahiri, you mean?"

He turned away as an embarrassed blush crept over his cheeks.

"Look," she continued, changing the subject. "I have a feeling Jacen is hiding something from all of us. I've noticed a difference in our twin bond since the ravine incident, and it's almost as if he's trying to block me out completely. It worries me."

"Yeah," Anakin agreed. "That bothers me, too. But what can we do? If he's blocking you, he's clearly got no intention of talking to you about it…" He let his voice trail off, and his shoulders sagged under the emotional strain.

Jaina suddenly noticed that the pressures of leadership were affecting him more than he was letting on. "But Tahiri might," she supplied. "After all, she and our dear brother have been joined at the hip these last few days, so she's bound to know something."

"How do you know Jacen would tell her anything?"

"Oh, come on, Anakin!" she scoffed. "What do you think they've been doing lately? Talking about the weather? Making out?" She winced as she caught the look on his face at her last words and felt her face redden with shame. "Sorry," she said meekly, "You didn't need to hear that."

"No, I didn't."

The darkness in his eyes faded a little, and in its place was something more haunting and hollow. "But if Jacen _has_ told Tahiri something, how do I get her alone long enough to find out, without looking like I'm snooping?"

"You are the leader, aren't you?" she reminded him, letting the corners of her eyes crease with mischief.

"Yes, but…" He stopped mid-sentence ad the meaning behind his sister's words sunk in. Turning away from her, he called out to the strike team over the comm. unit. "Break time's over. We're moving out."

The Jedi gathered together in much the same line-up as before, with Jacen and Tahiri once again hovering behind on their own. Jaina watched as Anakin ordered their brother forward.

"Jacen, you're up front with Jaina this time," he said, pointing to the head of the pack.

"But why?" he protested. "Who's going to bring up the rear?"

"I am," Anakin said in a low snarl. "Now get in line, and get going. We've got a lot of distance to travel, and we're running out of time."

His elder brother nodded submissively and slunk in place next to his twin, leading the strike team on their long trek toward the voxyn queen. 

Tahiri glanced up at Anakin and gave him a weak smile as he slotted in beside her. She knew what this was about; she'd felt his thoughts on more than one occasion over the past couple of days, and the fact that he was hurting over her deliberate avoidance made her want to tell him everything.

But there was no way she could do that. He would never understand, and worse, would probably think she was crazy. So she remained quiet as they skipped over rocks and fallen branches in perfect unison, waiting for him to bring up the topic, so she could bat it away frivolously.

Anakin wasn't the only one who was smarting right now, though. Having to keep her boyfriend in the dark about what was going on was crushing her heart, and causing her stomach to do acrobatics. She never felt so scared, sick and upset in her entire life – both the past and future!

One thing she didn't feel, though, was alone. Jacen understood what was going on, and just knowing that he was there for her made the world of difference to what she needed to do.

But for how long would he be around for her?

Tahiri bit her lip to stop the wave of tears that threatened to spill from her glassy eyes as she recalled the conversation she'd been having with Jacen before they'd stopped for a break.

He'd told her he had been doing some thinking after their sentry duty the other night, and had come to the conclusion that in order to save Anakin and his family, he would have to take his brother's place.

She had disputed this, of course; telling him that he didn't need to die to save Anakin, and that as long as they kept him out of Vergere's clutches, he would be safe from the darkside. Especially since he had been pre-warned about the consequences such a turn would have on the galaxy.

But Jacen had insisted, explaining that he believed this to be the will of the force; that in order to correct his evils, he needed to make a personal sacrifice, and save his brother in the process. "Why else would the force bring us back here?" he'd asked. "It is my duty to end my path, here on Myrkr; I know that. This is the way it has to be, but I can't do this alone, Tahiri. I need you to help me."

Tahiri had cried then, and he had held her close, sorry for having to ask such a thing of her, but needing it all the same. As much as it had pained her to say it, she had agreed to help him. There was no one else; she was all he had, and she was the key.

_The key…_

Anakin's soft question broke into her thoughts, catching her slightly off-guard. "Are you feeling ok?"

It was a simple thing to ask, but she knew it was just a front, and her mind clamped shut like a durasteel trap, fending off the force-probing she knew he was attempting.

"Fine," she answered casually.

"Are you sure? Because you've been acting strange lately," he pressed on.

She had to stop the grin that was spreading at the concern hidden in his voice. It was a comforting thought, to think that he was so worried for her; but all the same, she couldn't confide in him. Not now, anyway.

"I'm fine, Anakin."

He pulled her to a halt by her jumpsuit sleeve and turned her body toward his. "Then what's going on with you and Jacen? And don't even think about acting like you don't know what I'm talking about."

There it was – the question she'd been waiting for since the start of the conversation. It was time for her lying to begin.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

This response drew a frustrated groan from Anakin, and he grabbed at her arm again to stop her, as she endeavored to catch up to the rest of the group. "Tahiri, I know you two are hiding something. You've been talking in conspiratorial tones ever since the cave, and…" He paused as she rolled her eyes at him.

"What, you didn't think I'd notice?"

"No," she replied in a huff. "I just don't know what you're talking about!"

Anakin threw his hands up in defeat. "Fine! I'm sorry I asked!" They both suddenly found objects on the opposite sides of them very interesting, and Tahiri had difficulty controlling how upset she was at being forced to treat her boyfriend so horribly. He, on the other hand, was positively fuming at their tense exchange, and she decided that it was probably best for the both of them if they remained silent for the rest of the day's journey.

She used this lapse in conversation to glide her mind back to her earlier discussion with Jacen. They'd briefly touched on the question of how Tahiri had come to be here in the first place; how she'd managed to remember the future, while Jacen could not.

A mistake in his force abilities, perhaps? Or something more purposeful?

He'd again described what he had seen on the ravine, the two shining silhouettes of the older versions of themselves, pointing him in her direction.

From her memory, his re-telling sounded something to her like a flow walk, a force technique Jacen had often used to catch out traitors; but without seeing it for herself, she couldn't be sure.

Then there was the riddle of how she'd somehow been taken on this possible flow walk. He'd been able to take her with him before, but that was when she'd been alive, and amongst her memories from the future was the rather distinct one of dying.

"Unless you weren't on the flow walk with him after all…" a voice inside her head whispered.

Tahiri paused to consider the possibility, and something deep inside her snapped. "I was a force ghost!" she mumbled aloud.

"What did you say?" Anakin asked, his brow furrowed.

"Nothing, she told him absentmindedly. "It was nothing."

He resumed his position alongside her with a scowl on his face, and she stared at the back of his elder brother's head, smiling. Everything made sense now. The ravine, Jacen's vision, her memories…

It was all the will of the force, she knew. He had been right. Anakin dying hadn't been what the force had wanted, and here they were, back to stop it from happening. The fact that their older selves had disappeared as Jacen had said meant that the future had already been changed.

How it would change exactly, was now up to them. 

For about the hundredth time in as many minutes, Jacen told his elder sister, "I'm not hiding anything!"

She gave him a look that suggested she didn't believe it in the slightest, and he groaned out loud at the prospect of her continued scrutiny. He saw her mouth open wide with another inquiry, and then slam shut just as quickly, as an ear-piercing roar cut across the area.

A voxyn screech attack.

"Ah, little brother…" he hissed into the comm. "We've got company."

The snap-hiss of a half a dozen or so lightsabers flaring to life in harmony echoed around the nearby plains, every Jedi attuning themselves to their danger senses.

Anakin was at his side in less than a second, scanning the surrounding forest for the source of the noise with the rest of the strike team. "Can anyone see anything?" their leader asked frantically, his blue eyes darting back and forth amongst the dense foliage.

"Negative," came Jaina's hushed reply. Tahiri seconded that answer, as did Tenel Ka, and Zekk, and the Rodian, Jovan Drark.

This wasn't what Anakin had wanted to hear, the unconstructive news increasing his frustration and the disquiet that was coursing through the meld. Jacen did he best to try and mask his brother's feelings, but it was no use; they'd already penetrated the group's collective mind. The damage had been done.

He put a hand on the young Jedi's shoulder in an attempt to calm him, but Anakin just shook it away, an angry expression flashing across his face. "Not now, Jacen!" he growled, bending his torso in the opposite direction and creeping over the leaf-littered ground toward Ganner.

Jacen pulled a face at his brother's blatant disrespect for him, but chose to ignore until a more appropriate time presented itself. He discreetly removed himself from the battle meld and opened his mind to the force, searching the forest for the hiding voxyn.

After a short time, he found them. A pack of three, a little ways up the path the Jedi were on, and ready to attack. He clicked on an open comm. channel so that the rest of the group could hear and addressed their leader. "Anakin! I've found them."

There was no response from the other end, but before Jacen could reprimand him for being ignorant at a time like this, his brother had once again emerged at his side. "Can you flush them out?" he questioned, wiping away the droplets of nervous sweat that had formed below his brow line.

"I-I think so," he stammered.

"You think so?"

"I can do it."

"Ok," Anakin said, flashing him a trademark grin made famous by their father. "What do you want us to do?"

Jacen's gaze swept over their position, his mind running through a million different variations of what to do next. A minute or so had passed with him deep in thought before he replied, and he was pleased to note that his brother hadn't tried to hurry him. "I want you to hide behind those trees over there," he ordered, pointing to a large patch of vegetation on the left.

"You're sure there's none in that area?" he asked uneasily, eying the group of trees indicated and taking a large gulp of air.

"I'm positive; trust me." Jacen gave him the same roguish grin he'd received only moments ago, and took a step back as Anakin relayed their plan to the rest of the team.

They all huddled together in a tight group so that their voices wouldn't carry so far across the open plains, and once they had broken apart, Jacen shot his brother a quizzical look.

"Ready?"

"Ready."

He nodded, and followed the group to the edge of the forest. When he was sure the Jedi were properly concealed, he stretched out with the force once more, touching the minds of the beasts with his invisible fingers, and coaxing them out of their hiding place.

The creatures moved slowly, and Jacen had no intention of hurrying their pace. If he pushed the contact too far, they would become unstable and harder to control, and that was when accidents could happen. He didn't want the death or deaths of his fellow Jedi on his conscience.

The familiar presence of his twin sister showed itself in his mind, but he disregarded it, knowing that it would only take a one-second lapse in concentration for his plan to fall apart.

Strengthening his hold on the animals, he drew them nearer still, guiding them unknowingly into the path of the waiting Jedi, where they would hopefully be swiftly disposed of.

Their heads were visible now, and even from the distance, Jacen was able to make out their dark muzzles, dripping with toxic saliva. "They're nearly on you," he muttered into his comm, making sure to keep the grip on their minds intact as he did so. "Be ready on my signal."

"Copy that," he heard Anakin reply.

The voxyn padded over the uneven ground with their huge, clawed feet, their enormous reptilian legs sliding from side to side in a lazy wobble. When they had reached their desired destination, Jacen stopped their crawl with the force, and held them there, doing his best to keep them calm as their jaws snapped impatiently.

He was sure they could smell their prey sitting only meters away, the creature's ravenous craving for the taste of Jedi blood filtering through his force connection and making him sick to his stomach.

"Now!" he hissed hoarsely to the team, watching with bated breath as his friends leapt from their hiding place amongst the trees and jumped on top of the unsuspecting animals with a myriad of glowing blades.

Their skirmish caused a pile of loose dirt to be kicked into the air, and for a few tortuous moments, Jacen was blind to what was going on, his only connection to the battle through the meld, which supplied him with a dozen incoherent thoughts and images.

A short time later, the dust was swept away by a strong gust of wind, revealing a band of blood-soaked Jedi, their lightsabers still drawn, and a mound of broken corpses at their feet.

Voxyn corpses.

Jacen rushed over to the strike team and touched the Jedi in the front of the group lightly on the arm, checking to make sure if they were ok. There were a few cuts and bruises, but mostly, they'd come out of it unscathed.

"That was astral!" he heard a voice exclaim from the back of the pack, and was shocked to find it was his brother who'd said it. Anakin ruffled his hair affectionately and gave him the most genuine smile he'd seen from him in a long time.

Jacen grinned from ear to ear in return, pleased with the fact that he'd seemed to do something right for a change. His face fell slightly as he remembered what his mission was on Myrkr, and took the chance to fold his baby brother in a loving embrace.

After all, he may not be able to do so again for a long time.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23: A Change Of Heart.**

The battle meld had turned into a dark prison of resentment and despair. Since their luck with the cave, and Jacen's trick with the voxyn pack, things had no gone the Jedi's way.

Thankfully, they hadn't lost anyone else, but each member had sustained further injuries after numerous encounters with the beasts, slowing their progress even more.

Group morale was at an all time low, and Anakin had run out of ideas. For once, he didn't have a solution to the problem.

He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. _Why couldn't the force just be with them for a change?_

A shadow crept up beside him, and as he swiveled his head in its direction, he came face to face with a glowing halo of golden hair.

"Hey, Tahiri," he greeted, flashing her his trademark smile as she passed. The young Jedi did the same in return, and Anakin felt his cheeks burn as if they'd just been grazed with laser fire.  
_  
It was amazing,_ he thought, _how she could warm every inch of his body with a single look. _

A _crackle_ from a thermal detonator exploding in the street behind him interrupted his thoughts. He thumbed his lightsaber on instinctively, the shimmering violet blade humming to life with the standard _snap-hiss._

Anakin pivoted on the spot, his sword swinging in a high arc, coming to rest centimeters from the top of Raynar Thul's fair mop.

"That was a close one!" the young man remarked, grinning nervously.

"Sorry, I thought..." Anakin began to apologize, his voice trailing off. The strike team leader deactivated his weapon.

"Raynar Thul, did you just waste a thermal?" Tahiri asked indignantly, running over to where the two Jedi were standing, and placing her hands on her hips.

The older boy lowered his face and mumbled a reply. "I'm sorry! Something jumped out of the alleyway. I didn't see what it was, but the first thing I could think to do was throw a thermal down its throat."

"We're supposed to be saving them, you know," she admonished, glowering at him.

"It's ok, Raynar," Anakin soothed, giving his friend a pat on the back and shooting a warning glare at Tahiri.

His eyes caught sight of her utility belt, and for the first time, he noticed that her lightsaber was still hanging from its clip.

Anakin turned his attention to the rest of the strike team and noted that everyone else either had their weapons in their grasp, or still blazing beside them – everyone _except_ for Tahiri, that is. _She_ hadn't even bothered to unclip hers!

This time, she'd been lucky. If it had been a voxyn, or a Yuuzhan Vong, and Rayner hadn't blasted it, she could be dead right now.

He gave the older Jedi another reassuring tap and then pulled the young girl aside for a private word, while the other members re-grouped after the little scare. She needed to be reminded of the importance of self-defense.

Once he was sure that they wouldn't be over-heard, Anakin's nonchalant expression vanished, and he gripped her shoulder blades tightly, giving them a gentle shake as he chided her.

"You need to be more careful," he said in a low voice.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

Tahiri's jade eyes narrowed. "Of course I heard you, dummy, I'm not deaf; but I have no idea what you mean."

He allowed his gaze to flick down to her belted saber, letting his eyes linger there for a moment, before looking back up at her frowning face.

Anakin watched as her confused façade faded, understanding flashing in its place. She bit her lip remorsefully. "Sorry."

"Sorry?" He ran a hand over his stubble-covered jaw line in exasperation. "Sorry? Tahiri, what in Force... What would I have done if something had happened to you?"

She was staring at the ground now, her head bowed and her tiny frame revealing just how fragile she really was.

"You need to defend yourself," he continued softly. "At the first hint of danger. I won't be here to protect you forever."

Her head snapped up at those words, her aura projecting a renewed sense of determination. "I don't need protecting! I'm not the one reckless enough to get myself killed!"

Tahiri's emerald orbs widened in visible horror at what she'd just let slip, but Anakin wasn't surprised in the least. He knew through the displeasing ripples in the force that she was far from happy with the way he'd been charging into danger, but it wasn't like he had a choice.

He was the leader of this mission, and being leader meant he had to rise above and beyond what was expected of him. He had to set an example, while at the same time, protecting them at all cost.

If that meant having to put himself in the line of fire for the good of the group, and the operation, then that was a risk he was willing to take.

Instead of chastising her, like he knew she was anticipating, he put his arms around the young girl's sinewy body and pulled her close.

"I know you're worried about me," he murmured into her blonde head, "but everything's going to be ok. I don't plan on getting myself killed on this assignment."

There was a short vibration on his neck, where Tahiri's mouth was resting, and then she drew back, just enough to make herself heard. "Most people don't, Anakin, but it happens anyway."

He didn't like the cynical tone she'd used, or the fact that her line had echoed something Kam Solusar had said to him a year or so ago, back before Tahiri had been imprisoned and tortured at the hands of the Yuuzhan Vong.

Back when they'd both been so young.

Anakin pushed the thought to the back of his mind and threw her a roguish grin, reminiscent of his father. "Hey, it's me!" he announced, spreading his hands in an encouraging gesture. "I'll be fine."

Jaina stepped to his side then, a quizzical look plastered across her face. "Is everything ok?" she asked hesitantly.

"Fine."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive."

His elder sister's gaze flicked between the two junior Jedi for a split second, before she took Anakin's word for it and decided to drop the subject. She cleared her throat to draw attention away from the awkwardness of the situation and spoke again.

"Everyone's itching to get going again, and Lomi keeps suggesting we get off this path and head down one of the alleyways. She says it would be faster in the long run, but Zekk's not buying it. He keeps mumbling something about the Dark Jedi being the death of us all."

Jaina rolled her eyes, and Anakin allowed himself the luxury of a small chuckle. He turned back to address Tahiri, but she'd already taken the elder Solo's intrusion as the end of their conversation, and was heading back over where the rest of the group was gathered.

He let out a long sigh and grimaced in frustration. His sister noticed this slight change in his demeanor, and stopped him before he'd even been able to take a step. "Are you sure everything's ok with you two? I feel like I just walked in on something serious."

Anakin wanted to lie to Jaina, but upon seeing the concern etched on her face, he thought better of it. After all, if he couldn't talk to his sister about his problems, whom he considered to be the person he was closest to, aside from Tahiri, then who _could_ he confide in?

"You're right, everything's _not_ ok." He groaned and sat down on a nearby stone, running his gritty hands through his dark hair. Anakin waited until his sister had taken a seat beside him and continued. "I just, I feel like with every day that goes by on this mission, we're growing further and further apart, and it worries me. Just the fact that she's here, on Myrkr, worries me so much that I'm sick to the stomach. If something happens to her..."

"Nothing is going to happen to her, little brother."

"You can't know that. Look at Ulaha, and Jovan, and Krasov; when we started this mission, did you think we were going to lose them?"

"No," Jaina admitted, "but just because they're dead, doesn't mean Tahiri's going to suffer the same fate. She's tough, Anakin – tougher than most of us here – and she's got something no one else has."

"And what's that?"

"She's got you."

Anakin couldn't stop the smile that twisted his lips at his sister's comforting words, and when he rejoined the strike team some minutes later, the negative thoughts that had been plaguing him for the last few days began to drift away with the wind.

"So, Lomi, what's this idea of yours?" 

"No, no absolutely not!"

Anakin's hands flew to the top of his head as he let out another hiss of irritation. Zekk had been arguing with the group like this for the last quarter of an hour, and no matter what anyone said, he refused to believe that Lomi Plo's plan was the best option they had right now.

"Oh, for Force sake! Would you just cut it out, Zekk! You're starting to give me a headache!"

This had come from Alema Ra, who had been growing increasingly more impatient with the lanky Jedi as each second passed.

Tesar Sebatyne, one of the two remaining Barabel's, sissed a supportive reply, while Zekk took turns to glower at both of them, before once again directing his attention to their leader.

"It's suicide, Anakin," he said, his tone pleading. "You can't listen to her – she's a Nightsister, and they're not to be trusted. I know this, remember; I have experience with Jedi like her. Doing what she says is only going to cause problems later on."

Jacen sat back from the rest of the group, perched on the edge of a broken rock, and watched as his brother contemplated Zekk's request. Anakin was more like their mother than most people thought, he observed, taking in his younger sibling's calm disposition, and aptitude for leadership. If he weren't such a talented Jedi, he would probably make a fine politician.

After a few more minutes of bickering, Anakin had reached a decision, and unfortunately for Zekk, it wasn't in his favour. The strike team's Jedi picked up their equipment pouches and began to move out in the direction Lomi Plo had indicated.

Most of them were content enough with Anakin's decision not to question it further, but there was still two Jedi who were clearly projecting their disapproval through the battle meld; one was obviously Zekk, who's dislike of Lomi Plo stemmed from past experiences, however, the identity of the other shocked even Jacen.

Tahiri trailed a little ways behind Anakin, her mind filled with disquiet, sending insistent messages to her best friend through their force-bond to go the other way.

Jacen could feel that his brother was doing his best to ignore her, but the young girl's evident disdain for the task at hand wasn't helping the delicate state of the collective mind.

He let himself fall off the pace until he was striding next to her, and threw the girl a questioning stare. Tahiri raised an eyebrow in response and nudged her head at Anakin's back.

It took him a few seconds to figure out exactly what she'd meant with that signal, and by the time he had, the rest of the group were slowing, taking up defensive points on either side of a narrow walkway.

His brother turned around and frowned at him. "Do you have something to say to me, Jacen?"

He gulped. Clearly, he needed to work on hiding his feelings a little better.

Stealing a glance at Tahiri, Jacen took a step forward and said with a confident air, "Actually, I do."

Anakin folded his arms over his dirty jumpsuit and narrowed his eyes. "If you're going to lecture me…"

"No!" he interjected. "I'm not! I think this is the only way, and I have no doubts about your decision."

Tahiri snorted beside him. "Oh, please! This is a crazy idea and you know it! Zekk's right; listening to Lomi is going to get someone killed!"

"And you have a better idea, do you?" Ganner Rhysode inquired sardonically.

"As a matter of fact, I do! We go around the long way; we take our time, and we don't risk everyone's life for a shortcut we don't even know will work!"

"No!" Jacen disputed, "This is the only way." He cast a knowing look at Tahiri. "It has to be done."

She shot a torrent of angry protests through the force, but he cut them off and stepped to Anakin's side at the head of the group. "Ready when you are, little brother."

And he was. Jacen knew from Tahiri's distress that this was the place everything started to fall apart – this was where Anakin began to die - and there was no way Jacen was going to let that happen; not again.

It was time to take his brother's place; it was time to change his destiny.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24: Ambush.**

As the strike team rounded the corner of the darkened alleyway, they found themselves in an open street, surrounded by dilapidated buildings and broken mechanical equipment.

Littered amongst the rubble of machinery were a host of fallen bodies; both alien and human.

"What is this place?" Eryl Besa whispered, shuffling closer to Raynar as they made their way through the debris, weaving in and out of the charred corpses and using the force to mute the hollow echo their footsteps made on the paved ground.

"This is where they keep the slaves," Welk supplied, side-stepping so that he was directly behind Eryl, his husky voice tickling her ear and sending a frightening shiver shooting down her spine.

"Thanks for the tip," Ganner replied dryly, sidling up to the Dark Jedi and rolling his eyes in an exaggerated manner. Since Zekk and Tahiri's distrust in the two additions hadn't subsided, Anakin had instructed the decoy leader to keep an eye on them.

Even though Lomi and Welk had no physical weapons, they were Dark Jedi, and still had the force at their disposal, which could sometimes be a great deal more terrifying.

Welk growled his displeasure at Ganner's sarcastic response, but cut off his retort as the sound of an ear-splitting screech boomed in the distance.

_A voxyn. _

The Dark Jedi's face paled instantly and he froze, forcing a cursing Ganner to drag him away as Anakin ordered everyone off the street.

There was silence among the Jedi as the shriek died down, and then a motorized snap-hiss, as three sabers at the end of the line ignited in unison, their myriad of colours bathing the murky area in an artificial blue-green light.

Anakin pulled his weapon off its hook, as a trio of voxyn skidded around the corner the strike team had just come from seconds ago, but before he could activate it, Jaina and the Barabels, Tesar and Bela were on the job, cutting the snarling beasts apart in a shower of deadly illumination.

It was all over in a matter of seconds, the animals strewn across the street in tiny pieces.

Ganner squinted through the smoke haze that was billowing from the burnt remains, searching for more of the disgusting creatures. He could see shadows bouncing from inside the alleyway they'd traveled through, but wasn't sure whether they were slaves, Yuuzhan Vong, or more voxyn.

A hand clapped his shoulder firmly, and the decoy leader spun on his heel to see the eldest Solo male walking backwards away from him. "There's no more out there," Jacen said, "but we should get off this street all the same."

He nodded his thanks to the young man and scanned the crowd for Anakin, silently rejoicing the fact that Jacen had agreed to come on this mission. His force skills with animals had really come in handy, and Ganner didn't want to think how disadvantaged they would have been without him.

A break in the pack allowed his eyes to set on Anakin, who was standing a little distance away, visibly in a heated exchange with the youngest of the team, Tahiri.

Once again, it seemed the girl had failed to reach for her lightsaber.

_Did she have a death wish?_ Ganner wondered to himself, as he made his way across the derelict street towards them.

"- I warned you about this before! You can't keep taking risks like this! Sooner or later, things aren't..."

Two sets of piqued eyes turned on him as he approached, and Ganner raised his hands in a peaceful gesture, smiling meekly. "Sorry to intrude, but Jacen's just informed me that we are now voxyn free; at least for the moment."

"Thank you," Anakin said stiffly, attempting to crack a grin on his hardened face.

"He also suggested that we get off this street at once."

This sparked an interest in the leader, who titled his head to the side in puzzlement. "Did he say why?"

Ganner creased his brow as he recalled their brief chat. "No, he didn't." He paused as he was reminded of Jacen's ashen appearance. "But he seemed spooked about something."

"Spooked?"

Tahiri's green orbs flashed with recognition, and she tugged at Anakin's arm. "Jacen's right; we have to get off this street, and fast!"

"Or what?"

"Or someone's going to die."

Her words had been so resolute and unexpected that neither Ganner nor Anakin knew what to say.

_Did she know something they did not?_

They didn't find out, because at that moment, the violet blade of the youngest Solo blazed to life, his iron-like hold on the silver hilt whitening his knuckles.

"My lambent is pulsing," he confirmed, shifting his stance to a defensive position. Ganner didn't waste any time, igniting his own weapon and whirling around wildly, desperate to find the source of their leader's panic.

He came up trump and glanced back at Anakin, who'd begun shouting orders for the rest of the group to get off the street.

"Too late," Tahiri mumbled at his side.

She was right. Hordes of heavily armed Yuuzhan Vong warriors were streaming out of the crumbling buildings surrounding them and popping up in between the injured bodies, amphistaffs and razor bugs flying from all directions.

_Oh, Sith! It's an ambush!_ Ganner cursed to himself, as all around the open square, lightsabers snapped alive to block the deadly projectiles.

He stole a quick glance at Tahiri and caught sight of the gritty determination set on the girl's pretty face. Her emerald sword sliced left to intercept a hurtling thud bug, cutting it in two.

Ganner replayed her words from earlier in his head... _"Too late."_ She'd said that even before the Yuuzhan Vong had shown up, and he was fairly certain she'd activated her saber shortly after Anakin had ignited his. He wasn't aware that the young Jedi possessed any special "Vongsense" like her friend, so if his assumption was correct, she'd known about the attack _before _it had started.

How she'd managed to do that, he didn't know; but when this was all over, he was going to find out.

----

"Blorash jelly; watch out!" Tahiri screamed into the meld, pulling a handful of arsensalts from her equipment pouch and showering the fighting Jedi with the tiny granules.

A split second after she'd done this, one of the Yuuzhan Vong warriors threw a small canister of pale green jelly at Anakin's feet.  
It exploded on impact with the ground and came to life; however, before it could crawl towards the young boy's stationary limbs, the arsensalts Tahiri had distributed moments ago made contact with its neural system, causing it to shrivel up and die almost instantly.

Anakin raised his eyebrow at her as he called his blaster to his free hand, sending a mass of orange bolts raining down on their enemies. "Smooth move," he complimented, lining his back up with hers and finding an armored skull with the bottom of one booted foot.

"Thanks," Tahiri panted, hitting her opponent across the neck with the hilt of her blade and stabbing another in the upper torso with her green-white tip. "What can I say; it comes naturally."

Anakin laughed momentarily at her joke, his high-pitched notes ringing into silence as the amusement on his girlfriend's face subsided.

She knocked the head off a charging warrior and pulled him by his tattered jumpsuit collar, so that his ear was pressed against her dry lips.

"Anakin, there's something I need to tell you..."

He ducked out of her grasp for a second to cut down another enemy, and then leant back towards her. "Can't it wait?" he asked through clenched teeth, spinning his weapon in a tight circle to deflect a mass of objects flying their way. "We're a little busy at present."

"No, it can't!" he heard Tahiri cry over the din of the battle, but missed the rest of her yells as he leapt over a pile of fallen Vong.

As Anakin dived back into the throngs of the fight, he didn't give their conversation another moment's thought. It wasn't like what she had to say couldn't wait until this was over.

A Blorash jelly that had missed Tahiri's arsensalts crept across the paved ground towards him, but he deftly swept it away with a single flick of his saber. He pivoted on the spot, gliding his violet arc high above his head, and buckled over as a cloud of darkness from the battle meld consumed him.

There was only one thing such a horrible feeling could mean: someone in his group had been hit... _hard._

He barked orders for Alema and Lowbacca to take over his fight, trying frantically to squeeze through the tightly packed Jedi to the injured party's aide.

The cloud grew in magnitude, affecting everyone in the meld, and Anakin was forced to roll sharply to the left, narrowly avoiding a particularly nasty amphistaff attack.

While he was on the ground, he saw the limp form of Eryl Besa, resting in Raynar's blood-soaked arms. She'd been hit with a razor bug, her once pretty face now a mess of crimson jelly and jagged tissue.

Anakin hung his head in sadness as the darkness in his mind vanished abruptly. Eryl was gone.

His split second preoccupation with his dead teammate almost ended in his death, as well, had it not been for Tahiri's quick reflexes. An amphistaff came out of no where, sweeping above his head and meeting the glowing green sword of his girlfriend. Her saber was so close to his head that he could feel the tips of his brown hair begin to singe.

Anakin propped himself up onto one arm and used the pose to kick his legs out at a right angle, hitting the Yuuzhan Vong Tahiri was holding back square in the abdomen, the heavy blow enough to knock the alien off its feet.

He jumped back up to his full height and stabbed his weapon down through the patch under the shoulder blade of the warrior, one of the few parts of its body not covered by the hardy voduun crab armour.

There was a guttural roar of pain as the molten beam charred the warrior's insides, the awful sound drowned out as a pair of large male Yuuzhan Vong let out an angry war cry – "Do-ro'ik vong pratte!"

"Get back!" Anakin ordered Tahiri, thrusting out his arm to stop her as she attempted to run to his side.

"No! You can't take on those two by yourself!"

"I can and I will!" He saw his brother sprinting nearby and called out to him "Jacen, take her!"

Tahiri's irate protests faded away as the elder Solo grabbed her by the waist and dragged her out of the fight.

He hacked and slashed at the warriors, easily blocking their languid attacks. Two lunges later, and he'd sliced the head off one Vong, taking the feet off the other in the same fluid movement.

Had he not been a modest Jedi, he would have praised himself for such prowess, but arrogance was not a trait one would normally associate with Anakin. Stubborn, however, was definitely a word that came up while discussing the young boy's qualities, something his girlfriend knew quite well.

_Tahiri!_

He flicked his head around to make sure his brother had taken her to safety, his blue eyes darting back and forth through the mass of flailing bodies when he couldn't locate her.

Anakin spotted Jacen's mousey mop above the skulls of a large group of Yuuzhan Vong - but no Tahiri. Panic began to set in then, and he frantically reached out with the force, searching the meld for her mind.

_If anything had happened to her..._

Before he could latch on to her force presence however, another wave of agonizing shadow engulfed him, so strong that it buckled his legs beneath him.

Someone else was in trouble.

---

Blasting Yuuzhan Vong from behind the shelter of a decrepit speeder certainly wasn't what Tahiri would call productive.

Jacen had forced her to wait with Ganner Rhysode, who was babysitting the Dark Jedi, out of the heat of the battle. He'd then leapt back into the thick of it, promising to keep Anakin safe.

But she couldn't leave it all up to him. She needed to be out there doing _something_, not sitting back and letting the others do all the hard work.

She glanced at the two Jedi that were crouched behind them. Tekli's tiny body was bent over Raynar's bloodied form, patching up his numerous cuts as best she could. The little Chadra Fan had dragged an unconscious Raynar to the safety of the speeder not long ago, with Tesar Sebatyne's help.

The blonde Jedi had stumbled too close to an exploding thermal, and had subsequently been bombarded with the soaring shrapnel.

A few meters after them was the pallid frame of what used to be Eryl.

A solitary tear trickled down Tahiri's cheek as she mourned the loss of another Jedi. She'd been so caught up in saving Anakin that she hadn't given the other strike team members who had perished on this mission a second thought. She wished she could save them all from their terrible fate, but she was only one person.

The fact of the matter was that she was having a hard enough time trying to change Anakin's destiny, even with Jacen's help!

Her negative thoughts were interrupted by the rasping voice of Welk. "Would you look at that," the Dark Jedi announced in awe, pointing over the threshold of the speeder, "they're using the slaves as shields!"

To her horror, she realized he was right. The Yuuzhan Vong were holding the slaves out in front of them as a form of defense, taking advantage of the Jedi's sense of morality, and knowing full well that they would risk their own lives instead of killing the slaves.

Tahiri chided herself for not remembering this tactic, while at the same time, trying to keep down the bile that was rising in her throat, a reflex action for the disgust she felt at the excitement in Welk's voice.

He was _impressed _by this shocking display, when he should have been appalled.

Ganner was just as disturbed by the Dark Jedi's behaviour as she was, his force aura rippling with repulsion. She saw him gag and then turn his head away, strengthening his focus on the task, and pulling on the blaster trigger a little harder than before.

Tahiri did the same, placing the muzzle of her pistol through a hole in the speeder's shell and firing three quick shots into the back of a nearby warrior. She used the force to guide her bolts to the small section of exposed skin at the base of his neck, where the two pieces of vonduun plating joined together.

The Vong fell to the ground, and Ganner gave her a mental pat on the back.

Something grabbed at her leg and she screamed, spontaneously kicking out in a bid to free herself from the grasp. There was a soft moan, and then a Gotal slave who'd crawled over to their hiding spot rolled away, clutching his face.

"Help me!" it cried in accented basic. "Please, help me!"

Tekli left Raynar's side at once to assist the injured slave, but Tahiri help up her hand to stop her. She ignited her lightsaber and took a tentative step towards the kneeling Gotal, ignoring Ganner's frustrated questions.

"What did you say?" she asked the slave, staring down from her height at its shaking form.

"Help me," it quavered, the same twang in its voice as before.

"Yes, I thought that's what you said." With a rapid flick of the wrist, Tahiri had impaled the Gotal on the end of her blade; the eerie green-white glow illuminating the creature's pained expression.

"Tahiri!" Ganner bellowed, yanking her away from the lifeless alien. "What in Sith has gotten in to you?"

He tried to pry the icy metal hilt out of her hand before she could answer him, halting only when the face of the Gotal peeled away, revealing beneath it the harshly-scarred complexion of a Yuuzhan Vong.

"An ooglith masquer," Ganner murmured, "How did you know?"

She hooked her weapon back on her utility belt and clasped her trembling hands behind her back. The older Jedi's gaze was stunned, yet slightly accusing, and all she needed now was for him to pick up on her lie.

Taking a deep breath, she looked him straight in the eye and replied: "His voice."

It wasn't exactly a lie; she _had _noticed something in the Gotal's tone that had suggested he wasn't what he seemed; however, her answer became a lie the second she held back the fact that the deciding factor was remembering it happening from the last time she was here.

Of course, there was no way should could tell Ganner that, and luckily for her, he bought her reasoning.

He laughed, and had started to congratulate her on her fast thinking, when they were both overcome by a powerful surge of force engery – excruciating force energy.

One of their own was hurt, and bad, too.

Tahiri drew her attention back to the skirmish playing in front of them, her jade eyes finding the battered figure of Jaina Solo, pinned up against a wall by a line of Blorash jelly. A band of Yuuzhan Vong warriors loomed over her, taking it in turns to jab her with the points of their amphistaffs.

That was indeed the source of the disturbance in the meld, and Tahiri's stomach was filled with hollow dread.

This was it. The time had finally come.

_Anakin!_

Her eyes widened as she watched her boyfriend's lean frame race across the uneven ground towards his sister, cold fury emanating from his being. She attempted to leap over the twisted metal of their sanctuary, not even thinking as her legs slid over the melted casing.

A strong arm pulled her back, and for the first time, she saw the handful of razor bugs flying her way.

They missed her head by mere millimeters. Tahiri and her rescuer landed on the rocky ground with a hard _thump_, panting.

"Careful!" a male voice, whom she recognized as Ganner's, growled.

She rolled off him and rested on one elbow for a moment to catch her breath, gasping as an amphistaff speared out of nowhere, landing on the earth where Ganner had been lying seconds ago.

"You can't talk!" she spat back, leveling her blaster at the head of a warrior, now visible over the top of the speeder, and letting off a number of shots in quick succession.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Jacen, in a dangerous tousle with a band of warriors. Amphistaffs flicked around his battered body violently, the older Solo doing his best to fend off their persistent attacks with his heated stick.

_Jacen! You have to get to Anakin and Jaina now!_ she screamed through their force-bond, willing him to abandon his fight and save his brother.

In one sickening moment, however, she realized that he wouldn't be able to make it in time. Jacen was too tied down to reach him. He was off to the right with Tenel Ka and Zekk, stuck in a vicious battle with a snarling mass of warriors; all with slaves for shields.

There was no way he could get through those Yuuzhan Vong without killing the slaves, and that was something she knew Jacen could never do; not now, anyway.

Anakin was about to save his sister from certain death, and at the same time, sealing his.

And she was the only one who could prevent that now.

Without thinking, Tahiri bounded over the remnants of the speeder, her lightsaber blazing and swinging at her side. She met enemy resistance almost immediately; a trio of large warriors, each armed with their trademark staffs and coufees.

She smirked. This might actually be fun.

In the background, she could hear Ganner's frenzied cries for her to come back, and was vaguely aware that the older Jedi was following her – or at least trying to.

Ignoring this, the she swept her body in to a low crouch, and stabbed out at her enemy's ankles, cutting into one of the Vong's feet with her emerald blade, and eliciting a loud roar of anguish.

The young Jedi dodged a slicing coufee that had invaded her personal space and parried out of the way of another.

Tahiri jumped over a low-arcing amphistaff, and used the force to send a piece of mechanical debris shooting in the Yuuzhan Vong's way, blocking them from any further attacks.

Taking off at a dead run, she called upon every inch of energy left in her body, begging her legs to move faster. Jaina's force presence was dwindling further still, and she knew Anakin would be at her side soon.

She managed to make it half-way across the open square when the worst possible thing could happen – she slipped on a piece of dying Blorash jelly!

Tahiri let out a dismayed cry as she hit the deck hard, her back sliding against the coarse ground and knocking the wind from her lungs. Tears stung at the corners of her eyes as struggled for a steady breathing rhythm, knowing that there was no hope left to save Anakin.

She groggily rotated her body she that she was on her side, coughing to diffuse the dust that had settled in her wind pipe.

She'd failed. Anakin was going to die. And there was nothing she could do.

Then suddenly, Jacen was at her side, distress plastered across his grubby face.

Somehow, he'd made it out of his battle.

She could barely hear what he was saying; his voice sounding like it was calling to her from way off in the distance.

Tahiri guessed that he was asking if she was ok, so she brushed him off, pushing him in his brother's direction, and filling her mind with just one thought: _Save Anakin! _

Jacen was gone as quickly as he'd arrived, the hazy auburn image of Tenel Ka hot on his heels.

She couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. Perhaps, there was hope left for Anakin after all.

With this more positive thought swirling through her head, Tahiri crawled to her knees, and froze.

Surrounding her in a small circle was more than a dozen Yuuzhan Vong, their beady raven eyes all trained on her diminutive frame, and their deformed mouths twisted in matching, eager smirks.

"Oh, kriff!"


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25: Altering The Past.**

_If there was one mistake the Jedi had made on this mission, it was turning their backs on us,_ Welk thought to himself, as he watched the retreating form of the decoy leader, Ganner Rhysode, vanish over the broken speeder.

The Dark Jedi flashed a vicious smile at his partner, tilting his head to indicate the situation behind him: Tekli was still bent over Raynar's beaten body, her furry little hands flying like a ship in hyperspace.

Lomi nodded her approval, reading his plan through their bond, and together they advanced on the unsuspecting Chadra-Fan, their yellowed teeth bared with malice.

Gripped loosely in one of the injured Jedi's hands was a glossy silver tube, no bigger than a blaster, but much more dangerous when in the right hands; their hands.

Welk grabbed the saber between his sweaty palms, and when Tekli reached for her weapon to stop him, Lomi picked her up with the force, blocking off the creature's airways with a deadly technique only those taught at the Shadow Academy could imitate.

A rasping choke reverberated around their hiding place, but unfortunately for the alien, the din of the battle was so loud that no one could hear her.

The healer tried to reach out to the others through the meld next, and Welk felt Lomi smirk admiringly. It was a smart move, but yet again, the Dark Jedi had a counter-attack ready.

After all, they'd been trekking with the strike team for days now, and had never been let into the meld, so they'd had a lot of spare time on their hands.

Lomi levitated a chunk of speeder debris that had come free from the rest of the burnt-out shell and tossed it at the Chadra-Fan's head. Her beady eyes widened when she saw the durasteel heading her way, and seconds later, she was bathed in a dark shadow, slipping into unconsciousness.

Welk let a raucous chuckle escape his pasty lips at the healer's misfortune, his hands finding the icy hilt of a second lightsaber, this one discarded by the now dead auburn Jedi the others had called _Eryl_.

He passed it to his partner, fingering his own stolen weapon and relishing the cool sensation as it rolled over his skin. How he'd missed that feeling.

A pained cry stabbed through his musings, and seconds later, the mighty form of a Barabel crashed into their protective shield.

Both he and Lomi quickly stashed their stolen blades under their tattered robes, pushing out with the force to slow the Jedi's attackers, giving the alien enough time to regain its balance and focus.

The Barabel hissed something they assumed was a thanks, of sorts, and when it had dived back into the battle, Lomi knelt beside the fallen healer and began a memory rub.

It wouldn't pay for the Jedi to know where their loyalties lay just yet. When the time was right, they would make themselves known; but until then, they had to continue playing the obeying guests.

And the best part was that with the constant voxyn and Yuuzhan Vong attacks, none of the Jedi had the time or the energy to figure out their true motives.

No one suspected a thing, and they were going to keep it that way.

---

The butt of a coufee connected with her skull, cracking the skin and causing a splatter of blood to shower the wall behind her.

Jaina Solo cried out in pain, the echo of her voice ringing in her throbbing head long after she'd been silenced by another deafening blow.

She was on the verge of unconsciousness. The black spots at the edge of her vision were getting bigger, and every sound around her was muted, like she was listening through a layer of duracrete.

After so many battles – so many close calls and lucky breaks – she couldn't believe her time had finally come.

It was her time to die.

The blood dripping in her eyes from the gash on her forehead prevented her tears from flowing freely, but it didn't stop her from crying on the inside.

Jaina didn't want to die. There were so many things she still wanted to achieve: she wanted to marry, have children, and maybe one day, if she was fortunate, see the end of this war.

But it seemed the force had other plans for her, and if this was the way she had to go – if this really was her _destiny _– then at least she had the chance to go down fighting.

The eldest Solo swung her saber in a one-armed defensive motion, cutting off the hand of an attacking warrior in the process, it's bloodied amphistaff falling limply to the ground with the severed limb.

At leat she had the chance to make her family proud.

Another Vong threatened her resistance with its weapon, the living blade meeting her manufactured one with a thick _crackle_. She pushed against her opponent's stance, trying to guide their swords down to her right arm, which was glued to the wall by a lump of pale green jelly.

If she could just get free of the organic material, then she'd have a real chance of beating the warriors.

Jaina flinched as the beam of cerulean light started to eat through her armoured jumpsuit, and next, the soft flesh of her upper arm. She could feel the jelly slowly peeling away from the wall and knew that the pain, and the injury, was worth it.

Maybe she didn't have to die, after all...

The burning in her arm stopped abruptly, and she noticed that the warrior she'd fended off earlier now had her free hand locked with his, rendering her unable to move.

Jaina let out a dry gasp as the point of a spitting staff flew towards her pulsing throat.

_This was it,_ she thought. _Goodbye, Jacen! Goodbye..._

_Anakin! _

A violet blur shot in front of her face, just managing to block the deadly attack. Her coffee-coloured eyes shone with grateful tears as the rugged form of her youngest sibling came into view.

She was saved!

A mass of flying granules soar through the air from Anakin's out-stretched palm, connecting with the Blorash jelly holding her in place and sizzling on impact.

The arsensalts made short work of the hardened goo, and in to time at all, Jaina had full mobility once again, joining her brother in destroying her captors.

Anakin leapt in the air, hurling himself at a group of snarling Yuuzhan Vong, spinning his sword from side to side. She backed him up, blasting a hole through the shattered vonduun shell of one warrior and crushing another with a force-propelled sheet of durasteel.

"Thanks," she panted, parrying out of a close-combat situation and rolling underneath a spearing amphistaff.

"What are brothers for?" Anakin grunted, flashing a bright grin and slicing low with his saber.

Jaina was forced away from him by a mass of thud bugs thrown her way, and moments after she'd turned her back, she heard a sharp intake of breath from her previous position.

What she saw when she faced back the way she'd come froze the blood in her veins...

A straightened amphistaff sat next to Anakin's abdomen, blocked from skewering him by a line of jade light.

"Jacen!" Anakin exclaimed in surprise.

Jaina let out the breath she didn't know she's been holding, relieved that her twin had managed to arrive at just the right time. If he'd been half a second later, she didn't want to think what might have happened.

The two boys cut their way out from where they'd just been boxed in, Jacen jumping up the slope and landing next to her. Anakin started to follow, but their older brother pointed in the opposite direction, his voice loud and commanding.

"Go and help Tahiri! I've got this covered."

The youngest Solo shook his head stubbornly, continuing on the same path. As soon as he was at their side, Jacen grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around, pointing once again at a swarm of Yuuzhan Vong on the other side of the open square.

"No! Tahiri needs you!"

At first, Jaina wondered what had caught the warriors' attention so fully. She'd never seen them look so frenzied before, the way they were clawing in a tight circle reminiscent of a pack of hungry voxyn at dinnertime.

And then she saw a quick flash of blonde hair, and the whiz of a green blade through the bunch of scarred bodies, and knew exactly what they were fighting over...

_Tahiri!_

The sinking, sick feeling in her heart mirrored Anakin's as his gaze rested on the struggling form of his girlfriend, trapped in a ring of bloodthirsty enemies.

"Go, Anakin!" Jaina croaked hoarsely, barely able to contain her emotions over what she'd just seen.

Her little brother didn't need to be told again. By the time she'd glance back at his lean frame, he was already sprinting towards Tahiri.

She felt her twin's familiar touch on her mind and gritted her teeth, reluctantly turning away from the heartbreaking scene playing out in front of her.

_"We have to help the others!"_ Jacen's voice rang out in her head, and she knew he was right. There was nothing they could do for Anakin and Tahiri now. They had a job to do, and they also had to keep the rest of the strike team safe.

The team came before any individual – her little brother had said that himself.

She cut down on the back of a warrior facing away from her and growled as a razor bug hit her in the calf. If the force should take Anakin and Tahiri today, she would grieve for them when she was home.

But not before.

---

She inhaled sharply, the quick intake of breath sucking in her stomach just enough to narrowly avoid a dangerous amphistaff swipe.

The Yuuzhan Vong were all around her; scarred and mutilated bodies as far as the eye could see.

A sea of angry aliens and bloodied weapons... and she was in the middle of it.

Tahiri ducked and weaved under attack after attack, spinning her own blade furiously from side to side, desperate to cut a gap in the enemy's blockade.

She was trying not to show any fear, knowing full well that the Vong would be able to smell it. The leering grins forming at the corners of their segmented mouths, however, showed her that she was failing miserably.

They knew she was afraid, and they were taking advantage of it.

The young girl screamed as a stray coufee sliced down the length of her exposed right arm, ripping through her armoured jumpsuit and severing muscles and tendons.

She retaliated instantly, adrenaline pulling her through the blinding pain.

_Slash._

_Hack._

_Jab._

Two warriors fell, their open wounds still emanating smoke.

_Parry._

_Cut._

_Spike. _

And another one, rolling around at her feet, both arms missing.

Her emerald blade was moving so fast in her hands that it was humming, illuminating the faces of her enemies in a ghostly pale green glow, before she removed them from their torsoes.

Tahiri had tuned out of the battle meld long ago, the pressures of her current fight so great, that it was taking all of her strength and force awareness just to keep herself alive.

She only hoped that someone would come to her aide soon. She didn't know how much longer she could keep this up.

The Vong were learning – coming at her harder and faster, and chopping at her legs and ankles with their living weapons.

Tahiri found herself in a continuous leap, jumping back in the air as soon as her booted feet had hit the ground, each time getting closer to being collected by the jarring spikes.

Sweat was pouring out of every orifice, mixing with the blood that was leaking out of her numerous wounds, and wafting a sickly sweet smell into her flaring nostrils.

The saccharine scent was so overpowering that it was causing Tahiri to gag.

An amphistaff plummeted through the horde of armoured bodies, heading straight for the young Jedi's groin. She deftly caught it between her upper thighs, clamping her legs shut around the writhing organism and twisting it out of her attacker's grasp.

Tahiri used the momentum to flick the alien weapon into her free hand, shuddering as the smooth life form coiled itself around her forearm. The texture of the shaft seared through the pads on her fingers as she gripped it, bringing a memory she never knew she had to the surface.

It was a memory of her false life; one that had been implanted by the very enemy that stood before her.

Tahiri looked down at the staff in her hand and smiled wickedly. She knew how to use this.

With her lightsaber in one hand and amphistaff in the other, the shaped Jedi began cutting down her enemies with practised ease, the latter weapon flicking around the pack of warriors and spitting poisonous venom like it had a mind of its own.

The part of her mind that was now occupied by the mythical persona of Riina took control then, pirouetting on the spot, with both swords whipping in a circle above her head.

She splayed her wrists mid-turn, letting the molten light slice through one warrior and the now rigid edge of the living staff sever another at the neck. Dark crimson blood rained down on her as she ducked under the headless body, plunging the venomous tip of the stolen weapon up through the centre of a towering soldier.

Unfortunately for the Yuuzhan Vong, they hadn't thought to put armour in such a place. They were going to pay dearly for that mistake today.

Tahiri broke her combat concentration for a split second in order to project her finding through the meld: _their nether regions are exposed!_

Hopefully, this would make the task of killing them a little easier for the others, especially since a lot of the Vong were still shamelessly using the slaves in order to remain alive.

Her break in focus may have helped her fellow Jedi, but all it did for Tahiri was put her at considerable risk. She evaded a lightning fast jab from a coufee just in time, the organic blade slicing so close to her earlobe that she could feel the cool rush of wind its movement produced.

"That was too close!" she mumbled, wiping the beads of sweat and blood from her forehead and setting her eyes with a hardened resolve.

Riina took over again, enhancing Tahiri's power and speed with the amphistaff. This gain, however, only managed to weaken her skill with the lightsaber, and in the end, she dropped it in favour of the living weapon.

Grasping the coiled staff in two hands now, the young Jedi growled an aggressive Yuuzhan Vong battle cry – "Do-ro'ik vong pratte!"

And then she charged.

_Slash._

_Hack._

_Spike. _

The alien weapon glided through her hands, almost as if it were a second limb.

_Jab._

_Slice._

_Splinter._

It was so much more maneuverable than a lightsaber. Tahiri questioned why she'd never thought to use one before now. She tumbled out of a myriad of attacks, rolling to the edge of the circle.

Freedom was almost hers.

The Jedi rose confidently from her evasive crouch, her lips twitching in an arrogant grin. She could do this; the youngest member of the strike team, and she was about to defeat an entire legion of warriors.

Tahiri pivoted on one leg, kicking out with the other and thrusting out her staff in a two-handed swipe. Her weapon met the face of a particularly large Vong, while her foot arced up into the bare groin of a smaller male, smashing against bone and muscle, before again finding the ground.

What she didn't consider with such a showy display of skill, however, was the fact that she'd left the right side of her torso unguarded, sending out an open invitation to the armed warriors that were still standing.

One took advantage of her careless error in judgment, taking the length of his poisoned staff and spearing it through her abdomen.

The instant the barb pierced her internal organs, Tahiri knew she was going to die. Screaming out from the excruciating pain, the young girl tore the imbedded weapon from her body, and threw it over the heads of the Vong.

She fought against the dark cloud that had already begun to consume her mind, willing her arms to keep swinging, and her legs to keep moving.

It was useless. Her weakened knees buckled beneath her weight, and her eyes rolled to the back of her head.

As she drifted on the edge of death and sanity, her ears picked up the muffled cries of someone very familiar...

_"Tahiri! TAHIRI!"_


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26: Ramifications.**

"Tahiri? Tahiri, can you hear me?"

His voice sounded a million miles away to his own ears, so when his girlfriend's eyes fluttered open at those words, he was more than a little shocked that she'd been able to hear them.

"Anakin?" she croaked, straining against the tight hold he had her in.

"Shh," he hushed, bringing a hand up to gently stroke her clammy forehead. "It's ok; I'm here."

The fact that she'd woken up so quickly after losing consciousness was a good sign, but the dark liquid that had continued to ooze from her puncture wound, even after he'd covered it in bacta gauze, was not.

"Are you ok?" she asked in a low murmur.

"Am _I_ ok?"

Anakin would have laughed out loud at such a question, had the situation not been so dire. Tahiri was lucky to be alive after such a severe injury, and there was still no guarantee that she would survive – and she was asking if _he _was ok?

"Of course I'm ok," he told her, letting his free hand envelope hers and giving it a short squeeze. "Do you remember what happened?"

The youngest Solo leant closer to his girlfriend as her face creased under the pressure to recall the events which had led to her subsequent injury.

"I… remember…"

"You remember?" he prompted.

Anakin was vaguely aware of the two presences that joined him at Tahiri's side as he continued his gentle probing, hoping to find an answer as to how the young girl had found herself in a circle of enemies.

"Tahiri?"

"I remember falling over… and seeing you… and…" she stopped abruptly to catch her breath, her emerald eyes brimming with unshed tears.

"I'm…"

"It's ok," he soothed, rubbing at the falling tears with the back of his thumb. Through the force, he could feel her mental barriers being erected at a frenzied pace, blocking him from her thoughts and feelings.

She was afraid.

"Whatever it is, you can tell me, Tahiri."

The blonde Jedi nodded through her tears, flashing him a weak smile. "I know I can, but…" Her eyes focused on something behind his left shoulder, and narrowed ever so slightly.

Flicking his head around, Anakin met the straight-faced form of the decoy leader, Ganner Rhysode. He looked to the opposite side and saw his elder brother resting on his haunches.

Was their presence the reason for Tahiri's hesitation?

"Could you two give us a moment, please?"

Jacen mumbled something that sounded to Anakin like "sure" and limped over to where the rest of the group had gathered. Ganner, however, was more reluctant to leave, giving the wounded girl a long, hard look, before following the other Jedi.

Once he was confident the two men were out of earshot, he turned his attention back to Tahiri, still lying in his grasp on the hard ground.

"Now, what was it you were trying to say?"

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Is that it?"

Anakin couldn't believe his ears; he'd sent Ganner and Jacen away for an _apology?_

"What more do you want me to say?" she wheezed. "I'm sorry; I didn't think when I jumped over that speeder. I saw Jacen in trouble, and I knew he wasn't going to make it in time, and…"

He didn't hear the rest of what Tahiri was saying, as the mention of his brother's name had sparked something in him – a memory of what he'd told his elder sibling to do, shortly before he'd lost sight of them both.

_"Jacen, take her!"_

Anger brewed inside Anakin, the feeling of his rising ire like nothing he'd ever felt before. He'd ordered his brother to look after his girlfriend, but Jacen had failed, and now she could die.

And it was all his fault.

Jacen's.

The young Jedi saw the lanky form of his elder sibling in deep conversation with Tenel Ka, and couldn't contain his feelings any longer.

He let go of Tahiri and rose in a burst of fury, the darkness flowing from him and lapping at the edges of the meld.

Anakin saw Jacen spin around to face him, the corners of his brown eyes crinkled with bewilderment.

That was when he charged.

Springing from his stationary position, he flung himself at his brother's throat, screaming a hundred different obscenities as his momentum pushed them both against a decayed wall.

"What in force?" Jacen managed to choke out, before the younger boy tightened the grip on his neck, blocking off his airway.

"I told you to take care of her!" Anakin bellowed. "You were supposed to keep her safe! You left her – you left her when she needed you the most, and now she's dying! She's dying, Jacen, and it's all your fault!"

Angry tears streamed down both cheeks, but he didn't care. His brother had just condemned the girl he loved most in this galaxy to death, and there was no way he was going to let a few tears stop him from making the one responsible pay.

Just as he was about to swing his clenched fist toward the older Jedi's exposed face, a strong hand clamped down around it, stopping him.

"Get a grip, Anakin! It wasn't your brother's fault!"

The young leader rolled his eyes at the man now towering over him, addressing him in a venomous tone. "And how would you know that, Ganner?"

"Because Jacen gave me responsibility of Tahiri when Tenel Ka needed his assistance!"

Anakin's eyes narrowed to a pair of almost non-existent slits. "So what you're saying is it's _your _fault that Tahiri could die?"

"I suppose so; yes."

In less than a second, the young man had his balled fist wrapped around the base of Ganner's jaw, the hard contact eliciting a loud crack as skin and bone split under the pressure.

"Anakin!"

Now it was his sister's turn to step in, pulling back on his arms to prevent him from continuing his aggressive assault on the decoy leader.

"This is insane! What has gotten in to you?"

"It's his fault; it's all his fault!"

He collapsed then, his straining legs giving way beneath him as a torrent of suppressed grief washed over his body.

Tahiri was injured, and she was dying. With Tekli still out of it due to a blow to the head, there was no one with enough healing experience to fix her; and as each moment passed, his best friend fell further and further into the depths of the force.

And the most horrible part was that there was nothing he could do about it. 

----

Jacen watched the sobbing form of his baby brother and, despite what had just happened, felt an overwhelming sense of love for him. He knew in his heart that Anakin would never intentionally hurt anyone - least of all him.

The young boy was angry at the world more than anything else, Jacen knew, and understandably so – one of the people he cared about most had just been fatally wounded, and even the great Anakin Solo couldn't fix it.

Not this time.

His gaze traveled over the rest of the group, coming to rest on the huddled frame of Tahiri, who'd remained unusually silent during the heated exchange.

Even though Jacen knew that her injury wasn't his fault, he couldn't help but feel an extreme amount of guilt over the outcome of the battle.

After all, if things had gone according to plan, _he _would be in her place right now. _He _was the one who was supposed to suffer the deadly injury of Anakin's destiny – not Tahiri.

And now everything was a mess.

He ran a hand over his stubble-covered jaw and surveyed the damage of their interference: Tahiri was on the verge of death, and Anakin was on the edge of despair, while Tenel Ka…

At the hint of her name in the force, the Hapan Jedi lifted her head in his direction from her vigil over the lifeless Chadra-Fan, and as soon as her eyes locked with his, they turned as cold as frozen durasteel.

He'd damaged their relationship permanently during that battle, and no matter what he said or did, knew that she would never look at him the same again.

Jacen didn't blame her – he wasn't sure if he could look at _himself _the same after what he'd done.

One thing was for sure – Tahiri had certainly been right when she'd told him about his future life – anyone that could do what he'd done today, without even giving it a second thought, had to have been born evil.

He knew now, without a doubt, what he had to do.

And no one – not even Anakin or Tahiri - was going to stop him. 

----

The air of distrust around the Jedi hung in a cloud so thick that it was almost suffocating.

Welk grinned toothily at his dark partner. Things couldn't be going more their way if they'd planned it themselves.

After watching the strike team's leader lay into first his brother, and then the senior member, Rhysode, it became apparent to Welk that he and Lomi would need to do very little in terms of the subtle mind manipulation they'd intended.

The Jedi didn't need any help in creating a shroud of doubt; they were doing a fantastic job all on their own.

Or rather, one particular member was.

The tiny blonde Jedi the Solo boy called Tahiri was deliberately sabotaging the mission, for reasons Welk was at a loss to figure out.

Not that it mattered, really; as long as she continued to put the strike team's Jedi in disarray, he and Lomi were quite content to leave her be.

Welk's fingers slipped inside his tattered robe, gliding lightly over the glossy hilt of his stolen weapon.

_Yes,_ he thought, _things are definitely swinging in our favour. Soon, we'll be off this rock, and the Jedi will learn what it truly means to be selfless. _

He resisted the urge to cackle out loud, instead drawing his hand away from his concealed saber and backing into the shadow of a twisted tree.

Spotting the brooding frame of Ganner, hunched against the support of a broken building and alone, Welk smirked to himself and spread his mind a little further into the force. It wasn't difficult to see what the decoy leader was thinking about, and all it took from the Dark Jedi was a simple force-trick to push the other man's thoughts into overload. 

----

As soon as she saw the silhouette of Ganner Rhysode approaching her, the panic set in. Even in her groggy state, she could clearly feel his distrust and resentment towards her radiating from his force aura.

"How are you feeling?"

While the words seemed caring enough, Tahiri knew that there was no real feeling behind them.

"Fine."

He scoffed at this reply, probably because it was very clear to everyone that she was _far _from fine.

"What do you really want, Ganner?" she croaked.

Her bluntness visibly caught him off guard, but he recovered quickly.

"I don't trust you. You have an agenda, Tahiri, and I want to know exactly what it is."

The tone of his voice was so harsh and out of character that for a moment, Tahiri was at a loss for words.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on, or do I have to alert the rest of the group about what I saw during the battle?" he whispered, leaning closer so that his conversation remained a secret to the others.

"What are you talking about? What did you see during the battle? I don't understand!"

"You mean you don't remember knowing the Yuuzhan Vong's every move? Knowing how they were using the slaves, and when they would attack, and where?"

His tone was accusatory, but this time, it was his words that rendered Tahiri speechless.

_He knew!_

She must have kept her mouth open for far too long, because the next thing she knew, Ganner was bending even closer to her, his breath a tickle on her cold earlobe.

"I'm right, aren't I?"

Before she could answer him, Anakin appeared at her side again, his face all red and puffy from crying. He gave her a soft kiss on the forehead, and in return, she flashed him the brightest smile she could muster under the circumstances.

As his attention drifted to Ganner, she was surprised to see the older Jedi bristle under the leader's gaze, touching the spot on his chin where he'd been struck earlier as if he was still licking his wounds.

"I'm sorry about that, Ganner," Anakin said, staring at the swollen, purple lump forming on the edge of the older man's face.

"No harm done," the decoy leader laughed offhandedly. "I'm tougher than I look, you know." He stood tall and flexed his body in an exaggerated stretch, nodding in Tahiri's direction. "I'll talk to you later."

"Can't wait."

"What was all that about?" Anakin asked her as soon as the older Jedi was a safe distance away.

"Nothing," she lied. "It was nothing."

When she could see he was about to press for further details, Tahiri pushed herself up on her elbows and attempted to stand.

"What are you doing?" he cried, his expression changing from confused to concerned in the blink of an eye. "You need to rest; you need to wait for Tekli!"

"There's-no-time," she grunted out, disregarding her boyfriend's efforts to keep her down and rising on trembling knees. "We can't stay here – it's not safe."

It was the most pain Tahiri had felt since her torture at the hands of the Yuuzhan Vong, but she gritted her teeth and managed to make it to her feet, using Anakin's arms to steady herself.

"I'm staying with you," he announced firmly, holding her under the armpits and steering her slowly towards the waiting group.

"No!"

"Don't even bother arguing with me, Tahiri. I'm the leader of this mission, so what I say goes."

"You're right; you are the leader, and as the leader, don't you think you'd be able to do a better job directing this mission from the front of the group, rather than lagging behind in the back tending to me?"

She could feel the conflict flowing within him; his need to do the right thing and lead the time, while at the same time, the clashing duty to stay with her and protect her from further harm.

In the end, his duty to the group overrode his desire to look after her, and he sighed heavily.

"I can't fix this, can I?"

The quivering emotion behind those words was so powerful that it almost knocked Tahiri off her feet. It was despair and anger, mixed with a hollow realization that no matter what he did, there was no turning back.

She didn't know what to tell him; what did one say when they knew they were going to die?

A ghostly echo sang through her mind, of a time so long ago that it was almost too difficult to recall.

_"I'm fine; it's just a cut."_

Tahiri smiled bitterly inside as the understanding that Anakin had known he was going to die, right from the beginning, swept over her. He'd spent the entire mission lying to everyone; promising them that he was going to make it.

Now, it was her turn.

"You don't need to fix it," she told him as optimistically as she could muster. "I'm fine; it's just a cut."

He wasn't about to drop the subject that easily, so to distract him she grabbed his left hand in hers and gripped tightly. "Don't give up on me just yet, ok? I'll be fine."

Grinning widely to mask the agony she was in, Tahiri lifted a finger at his older brother, who was standing off to the side by himself. "Besides, Jacen will watch over me, so you have nothing to worry about."

"Jacen?" Anakin asked skeptically. "I don't know about that…"

"Now is not the time to hold grudges," she groaned in return, slumping against his supportive hold on her. "What happened to me wasn't his fault; or Ganner's. It was my fault."

When he still didn't give in, the blonde girl added indignantly, "I trust Jacen with my life, and you should, too. And if, for some reason you can't, you should at least trust me to make my own decisions!"

She could tell by the way Anakin's blue eyes regarded her pouting face that he was a little taken aback by the frankness of her remark, and when he responded some time later, his tone was almost apologetic.

"You're right. I'm just worried about you, that's all."

"I know," Tahiri said, giving the young boy a feather-light kiss on the cheek. "And I love you for it."

Through the grit and stubble covering his face, she thought she saw the slightest hint of a blush, before his vulnerable expression disappeared for a more rigid one.

"Jacen?" he called, the reluctance in his voice very identifiable.

"Yes, Anakin?" the elder Solo replied, coming to rest a front of them.

"I need to you take care of Tahiri for me. Don't let her out of your sight for one second."

Jacen nodded briskly. "Of course I'll keep her safe, little brother. I won't let you down again."

"Thank you." He placed his hand on his sibling's shoulder briefly, and the two smiled nervously.

Tahiri could see the beginnings of tears forming in her boyfriend's eyes as he passed her over to Jacen's open arms. Touching her delicately on the face, he whispered: "You need to stay strong for me, ok? I can't do any of this without you."

A small smirk played at the edges of the young girl's mouth, and she grinned in spite of her throbbing pain. "That's a little selfish, don't you think?"

He laughed and ruffled her hair affectionately, his expression turning serious once more. "I meant it, you know."

"I know."

Tahiri bit back tears of her own as she received a soft kiss on the lips from Anakin, who then moved to the head of the group, giving the orders of the next course of action to take.

She'd almost forgotten Jacen was holding her upright when his hushed voice sounded in her ear. "What do we do now?"

"I don't know."

And that was the truth. She'd thought saving Anakin would be easy, but it wasn't, and although so far he was injury-free, the rest of the group was far from ok. As a whole, the strike team had sustained a lot more damage this time around; Jacen, himself, was limping badly from a gash in his calf, and Raynar had taken a powerful hit from a stray grenade.

Everyone was battered and bruised, and people were still dying.

The worst part was that this mission was far from over, and Tekli, their only healer, was still unconscious.

And the worst was yet to come.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27: The Difference Between Hope & Despair**

The battle of the slave city was all but a distant memory, yet Jacen still couldn't shake the humming echo of his lightsaber as it cut through countless Vong warriors, or the ghostly faces of the slaves he'd had to severe in order to reach the enemy.

Bile churned through his stomach as the face of each and every slave he'd killed in order to reach his brother flashed through his mind.

He felt a sickness like never before, but not for the reason he should, and that was what scared him the most.

Part of him was guilty for doing what he did, but that small fragment faded further and further into the background of his soul with each step he took. What was making him so ill was not _what_ he'd done, but the fear of what people would think when they found out.

Tenel Ka already knew. She had been there, fighting by his side when he'd turned on the slaves - innocents in the struggle, too feeble to stop the depraved aliens from using them as shields.

She knew, and it was only a matter of time before she told the others.

He laughed bitterly to himself, more because of the irony of the situation he was currently facing than anything else.

When Tahiri had told him of what he'd become in the future, he'd been shocked beyond words, finding it almost implausible that someone as pure and moral as he was could resort to such low levels.

Jacen had tried to grasp the information she'd given him, but deep down inside, he knew that he didn't believe it for a second. There was no way he could ever be capable of such evil, he'd thought.

He was wrong.

As soon as he'd begun cutting into the bodies of the slaves held in front of the warriors, he'd known, without a doubt, that everything Tahiri had told him had been true.

Jacen Solo would become a Sith; that future was inevitable.

There was one anomaly with Tahiri's recollection, however; she considered his capture by the traitorous Vergere as the reason for his fall, but he knew better.

He'd always been teetering on the edge of the dark side; every decision he'd ever made in his life had been to pave the way for his subsequent fall.

It was ironic that it took the consequences of this evil to show him what he truly was – a Jedi, who could never be part of this world.

If there was one thing Jacen was sure of, it was this. He had to prevent the future from happening; to save his parents, his sister, and Tahiri, and in order to do that, he had to end his journey here.

On Myrkr.

A cool wind whipped through his dirty hair, the air carrying with it the whispers of the slaves, screaming to be saved.

And then, silence.

Jacen shuddered with the sudden drop in temperature, even though the cool breeze was a welcome remedy for his heavily perspiring body.

Once again, his mind flipped through the chain of events of yesterday, overwhelming his senses so much that he didn't even notice Tahiri trip and fall beside him until he heard her calling his name.

Lifting her in a force grip, he supported her under the armpits until she'd righted herself, and was once again able to run unaided.

She looked at him side-on, and he could tell by the way the gold strips in her eyes flickered in the dying light that this was no passing glance.

"Are you injured?" she asked, creasing her grubby brow and tilting her head to the side in a questioning gesture.

"No; why do you –" His reply was cut off as the palm of Tahiri's hand connected with the back of his skull. Due to her weakened state, it wasn't a hard hit; nonetheless, it still had enough force behind it to let her annoyance with him show.

"Dare I ask what that was for?" Jacen responded, distractedly stroking the red mark he knew was appearing at the base of his neck.

The young girl's answer came in a low growl, her tone reflecting just how much pain she was actually in. "Get your mind back in the present. What's done is done; we can't change it now."

Her limping had increased since the last rest stop, and Jacen could have sworn they'd dropped back from the rest of the group a little more as well.

Tahiri was definitely starting to struggle with her wound, and as long as they kept moving at the same pace, he knew her health was only going to decline further.

"Why don't I ask Anakin if we can have another break?" he enquired tentatively.

Fearing he'd have his head bitten off, Jacen had already started to flinch before she'd even opened her mouth, and was quite surprised when the only comeback he received was a whispered one.

"Can't rest; there's no time."

Because of her mellow reply, he decided to press on. "Look, I know you're tired, and I think everyone here would really welcome..."

"I said there's no time!" Tahiri hissed back, groaning and clutching at her open gash as the quick movement of her torso spinning around to face him caught up with her.

Jacen stopped running and put a soothing hand on her back as the blonde bent in half, grabbing at the backs of her knees and exhaling loudly to quell the fire racing through her muscles.

"This isn't helping anyone, you know," he told her, continuing to rub up and down her backbone and shooting frantic looks at the rapidly dwindling forms of the other Jedi.

"You think... I don't know... that?" she panted, coughing hoarsely in between each word.

The last cough had been much stronger than the rest, and to Jacen's ears, had sounded more wet than raspy, so he angled his head over one of Tahiri's shoulders to make sure she was ok.

His eyes widened significantly as he saw red swirled amongst the brown of her hands, and was unable to stop the gasp that jumped out of his pursed lips.

Tahiri was not only bleeding profusely from her amphistaff wound, she was now coughing up blood.

Jacen was at a loss for words, the harsh realization of the dire state they were all in finally hitting home. Eryl had already died; both Raynar and Tahiri were badly injured, and Tekli was only half with it and of no real help to anyone.

And to top it all off, only one member of the strike team trusted him with her life right now, and she was dying before his very eyes.

Dying.

Reaching into the force, he could feel her muscles breaking down under the strain to remain upright; organs failing and struggling under the pressures of a massive infection spreading its way through her body; killing her.

"Oh, no," he murmured, taking the girl by the hands and lowering her to the ground. "No, you can't do this; not now. I need you. Anakin needs you!"

"I c-can't," she wheezed, even those two small words sounding like they were an almost impossible effort for her.

"Yes, you can! You have to! I can't finish this without your help. I don't know what to do!" Jacen knew he was blubbering; he could feel the hot stream of tears pouring down his cheeks, and his voice sounded meek and pathetic, but he was past caring. He needed Tahiri to make it through this; he needed her to live so that she could be there for Anakin and Jaina when this was all over.

"You d-don't n-need me anymore, J-Jacen," she said, her tone even more laboured than before. "W-We've done it; it's o-over."

"No," he protested, not wanting her to give up so easily. "It's not over. We're still here... on Myrkr. Anakin could still die, and I need you to help me save him."

"You're right; Anakin's not safe y-yet."

_Thank the force!_ Jacen praised, clenching a fist in triumph. She was finally seeing reason!

"But I c-can't help you save h-him now," she continued softly. "And as l-long as you're w-watching over me, you can't s-save him, either."

"What are you saying?" he asked her, alarm creeping inside him.

"I'm t-telling you to go, Jacen. Leave me."

He shook his head emphatically, taking a tighter grip on her hands. "No. I won't leave you."

"You h-have to," Tahiri pleaded. "You c-can't save me, J-Jacen. It's too l-late."

The older Jedi stared at her open-mouthed.  
_  
You c-can't save me, J-Jacen._

Those words had sparked something in him; something he didn't even know was there. An image flicked through his mind of a battered Tahiri, laying in his arms, and uttering those same words.

Before he even had time to process the origin of the vision, Tahiri's firm voice broke through his thoughts.

"Go."

And he did. Squeezing her hands one last time, he broke their physical connection and left her there, giving in to her request, and vowing through their force-bond to keep her love safe.

He didn't turn back, knowing that if he saw the look on her face, it would stop him from doing what he needed to do.

So he left her to die... alone.

She was right; there was no other way. Continuing to limp her through the rest of the mission was only endangering the lives of every other member of the team, and one life, no matter whose it was, wasn't worth the deaths of the others.

"Jacen! What in Sith do you think you're doing?"

The young man stopped dead in his tracks as the ragged form of his younger brother stepped out of the shadows ahead.

"What do you think you're doing?" Anakin repeated sternly, folding his arms across his chest.

"Uh..."

What could he say? That he was just leaving his sibling's girlfriend on her deathbed?

"He was j-just going to g-get help," Tahiri's pained voice announced from behind them.

Jacen winced at what he'd heard, silently thanking the girl for not telling the truth, and turned back to face her, noting that she'd managed to prop herself up against a tree stump.

"Tahiri!" Anakin cried in anguish, his face contorting into a ghostly, horror-stricken expression.

The youngest Solo rushed to the petite girls' side, gingerly lifting her blonde head away from the tree trunk. "Why didn't you say something sooner?" he mumbled, stroking her damp locks and kissing her intermittently on the forehead and cheeks.

"I thought I c-could h-handle it." She shifted her weight and groaned from the brief movement, causing Anakin to fuss over her even more, if that was possible.

Feeling useless standing at the back and doing nothing, Jacen knelt beside the pair and watched as his little brother began to slowly peel Tahiri's hand away from her injury.

She inhaled sharply as the blood-soaked bacta patches were pulled off next, revealing an inflamed, congealed mess of jagged tissue surrounding a large, dark hole.

"Jacen," Anakin said stonily, his ice blue eyes remaining on his girlfriend's open gash. "Get Tekli. Now."

He didn't need to be told twice.

Giving Tahiri a small, reassuring smile, he took off in the direction of the rest of the strike team; relieved that the young Jedi was going to live for the moment, but at the same time, concerned.

After all, the Chadra-Fan healer was still recovering from an injury of her own – how much help could she really be to someone who was clearly dying?

***---***

Tahiri took long, slow breaths, trying to calm her screaming body as wave after wave of excruciating pain consumed her. It had been less than a day since she'd been skewered by the amphistaff, and despite her attempts to stay strong for Anakin and the group, found that she could no longer keep up such a façade.

Hiding her pain was both foolish and exhausting, and now she was paying the price. Anakin had been able to cope with his injury for a lot longer than she, and this insight left her feeling furious and apprehensive.

If her organs were failing sooner than Anakin's had, then that meant she had even less time to heal.

Her chances of survival were slim, and she knew this.

At the moment, her boyfriend brought his lips to hers in an effort to reassure her overwhelming concerns, passing a small glimmer of hope through the kiss with the force.

"Everything's going to be ok. Tekli can fix anything."

She smiled thinly, humouring him with her renewed optimism, and masking the disappointment she was really feeling. The little healer was hurt herself, and Tahiri knew from past experience that it was unlikely she would recover from this injury, no matter how skilled the Chadra-Fan was.

Tekli came into view then, supported by Zekk and Jacen. A large clump of matted fur was visible on the right-hand side of her head, concealing what must have been a nasty gash.

"Can we do this here?" Zekk asked as he placed the healer on the base of Tahiri's legs, giving her better access to the wound. His green eyes darted nervously around the clearing, as if expecting to be interrupted by a band of warriors at any moment.

"Here's as safe as anywhere," Anakin answered him diplomatically, shuffling back a bit to give Tekli more room to work.

The blonde girl winced as the healer's hands dove into the jagged hole in her abdomen, and she gritted her teeth as torn muscle and blood vessels were pulled together.

Tekli was stopped from going any further with the treatment as a voxyn screech attack rang out through the trees.

"You still think it's safe here?" Zekk growled accusingly as the Jedi took off in the direction of an old outhouse, Anakin's hands pressed firmly against Tahiri's ears, while she held on to his neck for dear life.

They made it to the door unharmed, but found they were cornered against the solid wall behind them as a pack of voxyn emerged from the protection of the trees; their thick, scaly tails flicking around wildly, and their nostrils flaring with the scent of Jedi blood.

_Tahiri's_ blood.

"If anyone has any bright ideas, now would be the time to share them," Anakin announced in a strained tone, looking from left to right at his fellow Jedi, the injured blonde still wrapped around his torso.

"I can buy you a few minutes," the husky voice of Alema Ra declared, looking the leader in the eye and pointing at a broken down landspeeder located between the Jedi and the snarling beasts. She flicked a determined gaze at the gigantic forms of Tesar and Bela, and the two remaining Barabels sissed with enthusiasm.

"Fifteen maximum."

"Tekli?" Anakin questioned.

"Fifteen will do fine," the Chadra-Fan replied, nodding her thanks to the Twi'lek.

"I'll need half a dozen grenades," Alema stated.

Tenel Ka handed over her case without hesitation. "Do it."

The blue-skinned Jedi split the weapons evenly between herself and the Barabels, and with a curt nod of their heads, the three warriors took off toward the machine and the voxyn.

Tahiri's heart caught in her throat as she watched the vanishing backs of the trio, rushing into the thick of danger just for a chance to save her life.

Last time, it had been Anakin's they were saving, and the fact that they were just as resolute to save hers left her feeling the smallest bit hopeful about her future.

Perhaps, with the support of the strike team – her friends – she could make it through after all.


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28: Into The Fire.**

Alema Ra cursed to herself as she ran across the open stretch of land toward the landspeeder, the pair of Barabels sissing at her side. If she'd given the situation another moment's thought, she would have opted against attempting to save the youngest member's life; after all, if Tahiri didn't make it out alive, there would be no more competition when it came to the affections of Anakin Solo.

However, the stunt she was pulling now didn't necessarily assure Tahiri's survival, but what it did do was put the Twi'lek in high esteem in the leader's eyes. Whether the blonde lived or died today was beside the point – Alema had done everything in her power to prevent that from happening, and that was what everyone would remember, long after the mission.

This thought sat well with her, and gave her extra resolve to give Tekli her fifteen minutes. Alema wanted to see the pride shining from Anakin's eyes as he looked at her before the day was through; she wanted to be the hero today, and nothing was going to stop that from happening, especially not some pack of snarling animals.

Crouching low on the ground, the trio approached their destination. Alema detached one of the grenades from her utility belt and motioned for the Barabels to do the same.

The aliens didn't need any encouragement, taking to the task with such enthusiasm that by the end of it, the Twi'lek was slightly concerned about her teammates' mental states. Clearly, the loss of their hatch mate at the beginning of the mission was affecting them.

After they'd loaded the last of the grenades into every crevasse of the speeder they could reach, Alema indicated to her fellow Jedi, who were guarding the entrance of the outhouse currently being used as a med bay, that the trap was set.

She'd done her part. All they needed to do now was spring it.

And for that, they needed bait.

That was where Tesar and Bela took over. Leaping up from their hunched position behind the safety of the rigged vehicle, the two Barabels bared their pointed teeth and let out hoarse roars that Alema associated as something like a battle cry.

The ruckus got the instant attention of the prowling voxyn, with the creatures ignoring the owner of the delicious scent of blood in favor of the bellowing Jedi.

_As stupid as they are strong,_ Alema thought, backing away from the landspeeder and the deadly trap to join the others.

Tesar and Bela did the same, only a little slower, continuing their screeching cries so as to keep the hungry beast's attention.

When the voxyn were close enough to the trap, the Twi'lek lifted the blaster she'd had stashed in her shin holster and pointed it at the centre of the speeder, smirking at how easy it had been.  
_  
They won't even know what hit them,_ she said to herself as she pulled back on the trigger.

A short burst of orange light exploded from the end of her weapon, soaring through the air and hitting the grenade-filled vehicle head on. The surrounding area was bathed in a brilliant molten glow as the speeder detonated, tiny shards of burning durasteel flying in every direction, and covering the ground in smoldering debris.

There was nowhere for the voxyn to run, and the horrid creatures were caught in the blast, the scarlet flames ripping them apart at the seams.

Hunks of scorched meat were spat out of the rising inferno; the stench that the half-cooked flesh gave off enough to turn even the strongest stomach. If she had to describe it, Alema thought it was reminiscent of over-cooked nerf steak, coupled with week old caf, and the droppings of a creature from Dagobah.

The Twi'lek only barely managed to stop herself from being sick as Tesar and Bela pounced on the burnt voxyn remnants, greedily devouring the putrid meat. It was then that she worked out the alien's earlier fervor had nothing to do with the fact that they'd lost a friend – they were simply looking for a feed.

Turning away in disgust and rolling her eyes, she made her way back to the outhouse, making sure to keep her force-awareness open incase of further attacks.

When she was about a quarter of the way across the debris-covered area, Alema was overcome by a piercing scream.

She didn't need the force to know who'd been hit. The rasping whine told her immediately that one of the Barabels had been taken out, and when she spun around, found the smoking form of the female, Bela, writhing on the ground.

The big lizard had been showered in a spray of acid, and the burning compound had already eaten away most of her armored jumpsuit.

And Tekli was already occupied, tending to a heavily wounded Tahiri.

Alema rushed over to her teammate's side, passing Tesar on the way, who was single-handedly tearing apart the voxyn that had attacked Bela in a vicious frenzy.

The Twi'lek's ears were filled with a sickening sizzling sound as she crouched down beside the wounded alien, the boiling acid bubbling on the surface of Bela's scaly skin and emitting the distinct scent of death.

There was no way the Barabel could be saved. The voxyn acid covered more than eighty per cent of her giant frame, and keeping her alive like this was pure torture.

A solitary tear trickled down Alema's cerulean cheek as she leveled her blaster at Bela's head.

"May the Force be with you always," she whispered.

Before she pulled the trigger, the Twi'lek thought she saw the alien give a short nod of her head, but that could have been due to the fact that the deadly compound had begun to eat away at her lungs.

Bela let out one final, pleading scream, and then there was silence, as the mighty warrior passed on into the netherworld.

Every member of the strike team bowed his or her head in quiet anguish for a moment, each saying a prayer for their lizard friend. Another dear teammate, taken senselessly from this world by the enemy; while in the outhouse, yet another was fighting for her life.

Alema could only hope that this stand, and Bela's death, had not been in vain.

She was about to give her condolences to Tesar, now the sole remaining Barabel of the group, when her lekku started to twitch in agitation.

Trouble was coming.

Her panicked gaze met the beady eyes of the mammoth lizard, and he rasped in agreement. "Thiz one feelz it, too."

They didn't have to look far to find what had sparked their danger sense – crawling down from the trees were more than a dozen Yuuzhan Vong warriors, all carrying varying forms of living blades.

It looked like Tekli's fifteen minutes were up earlier than expected.

**  
*---***

She'd tried heavy breathing, gritting her teeth, and even biting down on a wad of bandages, but nothing she did made the pain any easier to handle.

Anakin was trying his hardest to keep the agony in check, gripping her hand tightly and letting the force flow through her body, a hopeless attempt to calm her as the Chadra-Fan healer swirled her furry hands through her open wound.

Even though his efforts did little in the way of pain relief, the fact that he was there, fighting with her through this horrid ordeal, made it fractionally more bearable.

Tekli's fingernail hit a raw nerve as it scraped past one of her many battered organs, and Tahiri couldn't help the shriek that escaped her lips. It was a hollow, cracking sound, staying with the three occupants of the outhouse as it bounced back and forth on the dilapidated duracrete walls.

She could vaguely make out the healer's desperate pleas to keep quiet, fearing that the young Jedi's distressed cries would bring the battle raging outside into the room; but Tahiri had lost all control of her actions, and was only silent when Anakin's shaking hand came down over her mouth.

His tear-filled blue eyes blinked at her in sorrow, and if she'd been able to, Tahiri would have said something encouraging.

But they were well past measly words of faith now, and with each shot of excruciation that coursed through her body, the blonde fell even deeper into the pit of complete blackness.

Tahiri heard a scream that she was sure wasn't her own, and lifted her head a fraction to see where it had come from. She caught a glimpse of the shattered window across the room, and was struggling to make out the head bobbing and weaving in front of it, when he cloudy vision was consumed by a dark, cool object.

It weighed down on her forehead, gently pushing her back down until the back of her blonde mop met the soft top of the makeshift pillow she'd been laying on.

"W-wh-ha..." she mumbled incoherently, her brow creasing in frustrated pain as her lips failed to form the proper words.

"Shh... you need to hold still," a soothing voice murmured in her ear.

By now, her vision was so hazy that she was unable to make out the owner of the voice, but it was too deep to be Tekli's so she knew it had to be Anakin.

She could hear him continue to whisper to her, but was unable to discern what he was actually saying. Her eyelids had grown heavy, and Tahiri found she could no longer keep them open.

Giving in to her rising lethargy, the girl closed her eyes and let her head lull to one side, the reassurances of her love and the roar of the battle outside dimming to hushed buzz.

When her vision returned, she saw a bloodied hand reaching across her chest, clutching at a pile of used, dripping bandages.

"... best I can do under the circumstances," she heard Tekli utter, passing more soiled dressings to the waiting hand.

Tahiri bent her head in an upright position and saw that the Chadra-Fan was now putting the finishing touches on a fresh set of bandages covering her abdomen. It took her a few seconds to register that she could no longer feel any pain, and this shocked her, especially given how intolerable things had been only a few moments ago.

"You've f-fixed it?" she managed to choke out, the words grating against her dry throat like sandpaper on wood.

Anakin's grief-stricken face descended upon hers as soon she'd asked the question, his lips gliding across her brow, nose and cheeks with such obvious relief that it brought tears to her eyes.

"Unfortunately, no," Tekli informed her solemnly, shaking her furry head. "I've only numbed the area, to help with the pain."

Tahiri swallowed hard as her boyfriend once again took a strong grip on one of her pallid hands. She knew what was coming next. The young Jedi remembered like it was only yesterday what the prognosis had been for Anakin.

"I need a healing trance," she muttered. "My spleen has been punctured."

"Yes," the healer confirmed, packing up the med-pack sitting on the bench a short distance away and motioning for Anakin to lift the girl to her feet. "I've coated the wound in salve, and packed it full of bacta gauze, and you'll need the dressing changed every hour or so, but there's only so much physical healing can do. The best thing we can do here is a healing trance, but even that won't be enough to repair the damage caused from the amphistaff."

"What are you saying?" Anakin asked skeptically, his ice-blue eyes narrowing. "That there's nothing we can do?"

Tekli's fur rippled sadly. "I'm sorry, Little Brother."

The leader grew silent then, and Tahiri could see the colour drain from his face as he was finally able to comprehend the gravity of her situation.

"No," he cried, almost too softly to be heard. "No, no, no... not this, not you..."

Tahiri touched his mind gently, reeling in the bitter despondency she found there, weighing heavily on everything else, including his duty of care for the rest of the group, and the mission.

Anakin had lost all hope, and was falling apart before her very eyes. If he went back out into the heat of battle with such desolation, he'd be dead before nightfall.

Knowing this, Tahiri took a long, shuddering breath, sucking in her own misery over her fate, and constructing an optimistic front for the sake of the boy she loved.

There was no way she would let him die - not for her.

"Please don't do this," she begged him, turning her earnest gaze to meet his sunken one. "Trust in the Force, and everything will be ok. We'll buy some more time along the way, and I'll be fine."

His expression regained some of the sparkle it had once held at this, and he held her by the shoulders, his mouth forming a thin line. "Promise me you're going to be ok. I need you to promise me."

The door of the outhouse was flung open then, revealing the blood-spattered face of Alema Ra. "We have to move – NOW!" she ordered, ducking back outside and running after the rest of the strike team.

Lowbacca dashed inside the building and grabbed the exhausted Tekli, tossing her over his shoulder and following the frantic Twi'lek.

Tahiri took a step toward the exit, but was stopped as Anakin strengthened his hold on her. "Promise me," he demanded firmly.

"Anakin! Tahiri! Let's go!" Jacen bellowed into the open room, his face covered in the pale green glow of his ignited blade.

"I promise."


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29: No More Secrets.**

Tahiri was beginning to regret her promise. Her condition was deteriorating more and more as each second passed, and it was getting harder for her to hide her dwindling health from the strike team, and, in particular, from Anakin.

Her boyfriend had been watching her like a hawkbat ever since she'd collapsed, and whenever she showed even the smallest hint of discomfort or pain, he swooped on her like a mynock and proceeded to fuss over her until he was forced back to the front of the group by either Jaina or Jacen.

Those times were becoming more frequent, and every time her inner struggle showed through, it took Anakin that little bit longer to be pulled away.

She was affecting his leadership, and even though no one could really blame Tahiri for her injury, she felt the resentment from the others all the same.

Most of it came from Alema, Tesar and Ganner, though she expected the former two had more of a problem with her involvement in Bela's death than the fact that she was disrupting the mission.

She couldn't hold that against them, though, because she already felt responsible for the Barabel's passing. After all, if the strike team hadn't needed to stop for her, and Alema, Tesar and Bela hadn't created the diversion, then the alien would still be alive.

Yet another teammate dead, and another death she hadn't been able to prevent.

Everything she and Jacen had done to change the past had only managed to exacerbate the situation, and so far, the only person they'd actually saved had been Anakin; at the expense of many others.

Tahiri tripped on a broken piece of yorik coral and felt a gentle force-nudge propel her forward and hold her upright.

The aide had come from Jaina, who was this hour's babysitter. After leaving the outhouse, the Dark Jedi, Lomi and Welk, had suggested heading into the tunnels in order to find a short cut and get ahead of the problematic Vong. Anakin had agreed, but had decided upon doing a rotational watch over Tahiri, in case she fell again. It was a tad annoying, but at least it kept him at the head of the group... mostly.

Tahiri glanced over her shoulder at her boyfriend's sister with a grin of gratitude; however, when she saw the icy expression on the brunette's face, her smile faltered.

"We don't have time for this negatude right now!" Jaina hissed at her, giving her another shove forward. "If people die, they die."

"That's a little cold," Tahiri growled back, dabbing at her suddenly glassy eyes with the back of her hand. She was shocked at the older Jedi's attitude towards her, and couldn't believe that Anakin's sister was one of the few harboring anger over her actions.

"I'll cry at home," Jaina answered coldly. "But if you don't get your head back into gear, more people will die."

Tahiri was stunned, and for the rest of the elder girl's babysitting shift, she stared dead ahead in silent agony.

The entire time, she kept thinking about how much she'd wrecked everything, and was looking forward to Jacen's turn to watch over her, so she could let out a few of her frustrations about what they'd done.

The force, it seemed, wasn't with her at all. Tahiri's heart constricted in her chest as the sandy mop of Ganner Rhysode towered over her. Of all the people she could have had looking out for her, Ganner was at the bottom of the list, and being lower than Alema Ra was saying something!

"Tahiri," the decoy leader acknowledged her, giving her a short incline of his head.

He'd bluntly accused her of sabotaging the mission earlier, and had cunningly threatened to continue the verbal grilling at a later date.

She suspected that time had come now.

"Ganner."

For a few moments, there was no sound except that of the crushing of synthetic rubber on organic coral, and then he cleared his throat and spoke. "This isn't your fault, you know."

"Excuse me?" She was stunned. This was not how she'd anticipated the conversation would begin, and one look at the earnest expression plastered across the man's face told her that he was completely serious.

"I said, it isn't your fault… Bela's death, I mean," he clarified.

Her eyes widened at first, but quickly narrowed when she tried to figure out what kind of game he was playing. She definitely hadn't been mistaken when she'd felt his unease at her through the force, so it confused her that he would be so kind now.

"What happened to all that pent up hostility?" she asked him, raising an eyebrow in question.

"I still don't trust you, Tahiri," he told her honestly. "But I know that you had nothing to do with Bela's death. It's not your fault you got hurt, and anyone who even hints at blaming you for what just happened is a fool."

"Thank you," she said, flashing the man a small smile and hoping her sincerity would show through in her actions and voice.

"But I haven't forgotten what we spoke about the other day; or what I saw at the slave city," Ganner added, his tone almost intimidating.

"What you saw, and what you think you saw are two different things entirely."

"Would you mind elaborating on that for me?"

Tahiri sighed and gave him a sidelong glance. There was no getting around it now: Ganner was too much of a liability to her and Jacen's plan to be kept in the dark any longer. In fact, he might even be able to help them.

"Before I say anything, I need to know that what I tell you will stay between you and me… and Jacen."

"What does he have to do with anything?"

"Ganner, please! This is important!" Her sudden rise in volume irritated her burning throat, causing her to launch into a fit of rasping coughs.

The decoy leader patted her on the back soothingly, and Tahiri knew the sentiments behind the gesture were genuine. At least things with Ganner weren't as bad as she'd feared.

She angrily brushed away a wave of concern from Anakin, insisting to him through their force bond that she was perfectly fine, and didn't need his assistance.

"Are you ok?"

Tahiri nodded in reply to Ganner's question, still struggling to regain her regular breathing pattern after its latest interruption.

"I'd like to hear your explanation," he continued, after waiting for her coughing to subside, "but I'm afraid I can't promise not to mention it to the others; unless, of course, your explanation is plausible."

She took another gulp of air and exhaled loudly. That was about as good as she was going to get from the man, so she prepared herself for the skeptical backlash, and launched into the story; the truth.

"Before the battle at the slave city, I had a vision," she began, trying to keep things as simple as possible.

"A vision?"

"Yes; about what was going to happen on this mission." The blonde paused as Ganner's brow creased as if deep in thought, but when he didn't say anything, she took that as a sign to keep going. "I saw the battle of the slave city, in great detail; almost as if I was actually there."

"So you knew exactly what was going to happen!" the male exclaimed in shocked awe. "That explains so much... the lightsaber incidents, and your knowledge about the Yuuzhan Vong using the slaves..."

"There's more."

"More?" Ganner cried incredulously.

"During that battle – the one in my vision – Anakin was fatally wounded."

The fair-haired man's face took on a pensive expression, and he regarded her profile from side on. "It wouldn't happen to be the same injury you're dealing with now, would it?"

Tahiri nodded mutely.

"Kriff! And to think I treated you like a common criminal earlier! I'm –"

"Don't apologize," she interjected. "Please. I don't want your pity. I should have told you sooner, it's as simple as that."

"What about Jacen? You mentioned him before... how does he fit in to all of this?"

Tahiri thought carefully before answering, not wanting to put Jacen in it too much. The last thing she wanted was for Ganner Rhysode to start questioning him as well, and get two different stories.

"Jacen knows about what I just told you, because he was with me when I had the vision, so I replayed what I saw to him. That's it, basically."

Ganner was silent for another moment, obviously processing everything he'd heard. "I suppose," he said, turning to her once more, "what I don't understand is how I managed to let those little things affect my judgment so much. I mean, contrary to popular belief, I'm not as aggressive as I appear, and I don't usually attack people the way I did you without solid evidence... and a few lightsabers still clipped to your belt are hardly what I'd call _solid_."

Tahiri frowned at him, not quite sure how to approach the question, when out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the skulking figure of the Dark Jedi, Welk, his sallow face trained intently on her.

"I think I know what might have happened..."

***---* **

"So you told him everything?"

Jacen was doing his best to keep his anger in check, but the fact that Tahiri had just divulged all their secrets to Ganner Rhysode was making the task difficult.

It was blatantly obvious that the decoy leader was under the influence of the two Dark Jedi. Jacen didn't believe it was intentional, but the issue was that the older man had been affected by their vicious thoughts once already, when he had confronted Tahiri shortly after the slave city battle, and there was a good chance he would fall under their sway again.

The only difference was that if or when it happened again, Lomi and Welk would stumble upon some rather interesting information in Ganner's mind, and things would become so much worse for everyone.

"From a certain point of view."

Tahiri's candid tone broke him out of his reverie, and when the meaning behind her words finally sunk in, he felt like grabbing the girl by her shoulders and shaking her senseless. This was a serious matter, and now was not the time for jokes or friendly teasing.

He took a firm hold on the tops of the young Jedi's arms, stopping her in her tracks as she limped alongside him, but refrained from launching into the shaking frenzy he so craved to do. Instead, he brought his face so that it sat inches from hers and snarled his reply.

"From a certain point of view? You either did or you didn't, Tahiri!"

"Not everything is as black and white as you seem to think, Jacen!" she spat back, putting a greater emphasis on his name, and making it almost sound like an insult.

They stood there like that for a moment, both sets of eyes blazing with determined fury, and neither one willing to back down. It was Jacen that finally gave in, letting go of her and dropping his hands to his side.

"I'm sorry."

The apology sounded flat and unconvincing to his ears, and he scowled at this. Tahiri was the only one on this mission who truly understood him for what he was; yet here he was, treating her like she didn't matter.

She'd put her life on the line for him and his family, and, if history repeated itself, she would one day die that very thing.

He should be appreciative of her selflessness, and for everything she'd done, as well as everything she planned to do for his family; however, not matter how hard he tried, he couldn't quite make himself feel that way.

Perhaps it was jealousy; an envy manifested inside his soul, because he could never be the kind of Jedi she was becoming.

"I didn't tell Ganner the whole truth."

Once again, Tahiri's hoarse voice interrupted his thoughts, and Jacen was a little surprised to find they were no longer stationary, and were once again following the group.

"I told him I'd had a force vision before the battle; that I'd seen Anakin die, and because of that, I'd rushed in to save him without thinking, and sustained his injury myself."

"That's it?"

Tahiri nodded. "I never mentioned you, except to say that I'd confided in you earlier about my dream."

"So you lied to him?"

Jacen was a little taken aback by the girl's statement, and was slightly ashamed at the conclusions he'd jumped to before. She cared as much about this mission as anyone, and as much about their own secret task as he did, so to accuse her of being careless and revealing all to Ganner was to judge her very character.

And that certainly had to cut deep.

"I'm sorry," he said again, the words escaping his lips in a tone not unlike a whisper.

Whether Tahiri heard his latest apology, or simply chose to ignore it, Jacen didn't know; but she continued on with their previous conversation as if he'd said nothing at all.

"My lying to Ganner depends on your interpretation, I suppose; although, I like to think that I was selective about what I told him."

"Of course you do," he answered, smirking, before turning serious once more. "Tahiri..."

"Save your breath," she snapped, cutting him off sharply. "I heard you the first time, so there's no sense in repeating yourself."

"Ok, I guess I deserved that," he said matter-of-factly, nodding in agreement.

"You guess?" Tahiri scoffed, stopping against the tunnel wall and spinning him around roughly to face her. "You guess? We're in a kriffing battle meld, Jacen! No one's thoughts are secret anymore... or had you forgotten that?"

Her harsh reprimand was like a slap across the face, and the elder Jedi felt the sting of her words more than he heard them. The truth was that he _had _forgotten about the effect of the meld, and because of that, he was now more than a little worried about what Tahiri might know; or worse, what the others might know.

"What happened at the slave city, Jacen?"

His breath caught in his throat, and he felt instantly sick. So she _did _know something.

"Jacen?"

"I don't want to talk about it," he replied in a frigid tone, staring stonily ahead, and watching the retreating backs of his fellow teammates disappear even further into the inky darkness before them.

"Then perhaps I should just ask Tenel Ka about it. I'm sure she'd be more than willing to explain things to me."

He heard a sharp gasp from Tahiri as she flinched under his hard backhand, and immediately pulled his arm away from her, shocked at what he'd just done.

"Sorry."

"You've been saying that a lot lately," she said, one hand held over her reddening cheek.

Jacen stood there staring at her, unable to open his mouth and answer her scathing remark. He didn't need to; she was right. People only needed to apologize when they'd done something wrong, and he'd been doing just that, over and over again.

It was time to do the right thing for a change, even if that meant sacrificing Tahiri's trust and the faith of the rest of the strike team, in the process.

"I killed the slaves," he mumbled.

"What did you say?"

"I said, I killed the slaves," Jacen reiterated, a little louder this time. "On purpose."

"On purpose?" Tahiri echoed.

"Yes. I did it to save Anakin!"

"I know; you don't need to explain your reasoning to me."

"You're not angry then?" Jacen couldn't help but be dazed by the girl's words. He'd at least expected her to be the smallest bit angry at what he'd done.

"No, I'm not angry," she answered. "Just disappointed."

"What? Because of how hard I fought not to tell you, or because of what I did?"

"Both."

Her emerald orbs danced in front of his as she inched closer, taking Jacen's hands in her and stroking his palms with her thumbs in a calming manner. "But it shouldn't matter what I think, or what Tenel Ka thinks, or what anyone else thinks. What matters is what you think about what you did."

He could see her staring at him expectantly, waiting to hear him say he felt sorry for what he'd done. Jacen knew that it mattered what the others thought of his actions; Tahiri was lying to him, testing the waters to see exactly how far down his destined path he'd already stepped.

But he wasn't going to lie to her anymore; he was well past keeping secrets now.

"I feel nothing," he told her softly. "Nothing."

At first, there was no reaction at all, but then, as his words slowly sunk in, he saw the dark pupils of her eyes widen, and her hands began to slip from his grasp.

Just when Tahiri was about to respond, a throat cleared from ahead of them, followed by a grizzly voice.

"Am I interrupting?"

Jacen turned his head to the side and saw his younger brother standing in front of them, no doubt checking on why they were lagging behind. He tried to take a step towards Anakin, but was held back; only noticing that he and Tahiri's hands were still joined.

"Is there something going on that I should know about?" Anakin asked, his tone growing dark.

Jacen pursed his lips as the petite blonde practically threw his hands back at him, and had to stifle a laugh as he watched the girl's cheeks flush a brilliant fuchsia.

"Tahiri?" the younger Solo enquired. "What's going on?"

An almighty rumble, followed immediately by a deafening boom and ear-splitting shriek cut off any reply she might have made to the question.

There was no mistaking what the sound could mean. It was another voxyn attack.

Without thinking, Jacen, Anakin and Tahiri ignited their lightsabers and took off down the tunnel in the direction of the commotion, rushing to the aide of their friends.


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30: Opportunity Knocks.**

_At least the voxyn were becoming quicker to dispose of,_ Jaina Solo thought ruefully.

She surveyed the damage from the last attack, taking in the fresh injuries covering the faces and bodies of her team mates. Raynar had taken yet another blow to the head, knocked out cold from a swinging voxyn tail, the jagged edge slicing into his brow line.

He might have faired better if he'd been armed with his lightsaber, but he hadn't seen it since the battle of the slave city, and Jaina had a sneaking suspicion that the missing weapon had been destroyed in the grenade blast he'd mixed himself up in.

Zekk and Tenel Ka were both suffering with acid burns to their legs, after the pair came a little too close to one of the many deadly attacks of the horrid beasts; while Tesar Sebatyne had a nasty gash along the length of his back, where one of the voxyn from the pack had raked its toxic claws.

The steamy air around the Jedi was so thick with the stench of death and congealed blood that Jaina wanted to gag, and the only thing stopping her was the solid rock that was her brother, Jacen, his ironclad mind a beacon of hope in the darkness of the meld.

Jaina didn't know how he was managing to stay so clear-headed about everything, especially when she herself was literally falling apart at the seams. They'd lost Bela and Eryl, and both Tahiri and Raynar were struggling with serious wounds. With the exception of her parents, Jag, and close relatives, everyone she cared about most in the galaxy was on this mission, and the closer they got to the voxyn warren, the more frightened she became with the direction things were going.

It would only take one little slip up now, from any of them, and everything would come crashing down around them.

The thought was almost too much to bear, and the brunette Jedi staggered back out of the swarm of moving bodies to the edge of the tunnel, sliding down against the hard wall until she was sitting on the warm floor and clutching at her bent knees.

_Just breathe,_ she told herself, throwing her head back in an attempt to increase the amount of oxygen flowing into her lungs. _Just breathe, and you'll get through this._

But that was easier said than done. The negative thoughts kept creeping to the front of her mind, and just when she was able to push them back, they re-appeared again, darker, and more troublesome than before.

It was like she couldn't control them, and that was something that scared Jaina more than anything else; the fact that she wasn't able to control her own feelings was definitely _not_ a good sign.

A prime example of this was earlier in the day, when she'd snapped at Tahiri for being so negative about their situation. She hadn't meant to do it; the words had just poured out of her mouth like liquid venom, and the hurt that had flashed in the blonde Jedi's eyes at her callousness was unmistakable.

And she called herself a friend...

Jaina rose from her position on the ground, determined to make it up to the young girl this instant. Her coffee brown eyes travelled over the exhausted forms of her fellow Jedi, flying straight past her two brothers and the posing blue frame of Alema, and resting on the crumpled heap that was Tahiri, curled up in a tiny ball in the far curve of the coral tunnel.

The aura the diminutive girl was emanating was disturbing, to say the least, and Jaina's breath caught in her throat when her intuition locked on to the direness of her friend's state of health.

She was dying!

"Tahiri!" Jaina cried, rushing over to the other girl's side and grabbing at her trembling hands, taking them in her own. "Oh, Tahiri!"

Her blonde mop was damp with perspiration that the other was sure didn't come from the tense battle, and her face was pallid and wet, her once sparkling emerald eyes dull and sunken, and surrounded by dark, heavy rings.

It was a sight that shook Jaina to the core, and one that she hadn't imagined was even possible. Tahiri had made it through her capture on Yavin, and had survived horrendous torture at the hands of the Yuuzhan Vong; something Jaina was sure not everyone would have been able to endure.

She was tough beyond words, and there was no way she could die now.

Not here. Not on Myrkr.

Anakin, for one, would _definitely _not let that happen.

"P-p-please d-don't tell h-h-him," Tahiri wheezed, her head flopping backwards and forwards like a rag doll in her weakened state. "P-please!"

Jaina stole a fleeting glance over her shoulder and saw her little brother in deep conversation with Ganner and Jacen, obviously trying to figure out their next course of action.

"He has a right to know, Tahiri," she said soothingly, letting go of one hand to gently stroke the girl's clammy cheek.

"P-please just g-g-get Tekli f-for me. I've g-got..."

Jaina followed her friend's hollow gaze to where her newly vacated hand now sat, lying on top of the hole in her side, and dripping with fresh blood.

Her wound had split.

"Of course, I'll get Tekli right now."

She returned with the little Chadra Fan hanging on her back, but unfortunately for Tahiri, this trek of Jaina's didn't go unnoticed.

Anakin was at their side before she'd even had a chance to protest, his ice blue eyes creased at the corners and welling with a wave of unshed tears. "What is it? What's wrong?" he questioned, his tone low and quivering.

"It's j-just a few s-s-split s-stitches," Tahiri replied forcedly, doing her best fake smile. "N-nothing to w-worry about."

"I think I'll go and take a look ahead of us; see what we're up against, and leave you two alone." Jaina announced, grinning faintly at her brother's small nod of thanks.

When she was back in the heart of the group, she pulled Lowbacca and Alema Ra aside. They were two of the most alert Jedi, with only superficial cuts to their arms and upper torsos, and were the best choice for the little recon mission she was planning.

"What's up with Tahiri?" Alema asked, stretching up on the balls of her feet in order to get a glimpse of where Anakin, Tahiri and Tekli were sitting behind Lowie's bulky frame.

"Nothing," Jaina replied bluntly. "She'll be fine; but while everyone's still being patched up, we've got a job to do."

"Great," the Twi'lek sighed sarcastically. "I knew there'd be a catch to being the least injured."

Lowie roared an insult of some kind at Alema, giving the blue-skinned alien a warning thump on the shoulder. She got the message loud and clear, and there was no point for Jaina to elaborate on the subject, so she flicked her lightsaber on and headed off down the tunnel, motioning for the other two to follow.

The further they went, the hotter and sticker it got, and at one point, the air was so oppressive that Jaina wanted to rip the armoured jumpsuit from her sweat-logged body.

But that would have been a mistake, particularly if there were any voxyn left in the tunnels, so she put up with the heat as best as she could, wiping the excess moisture off her forehead.

"Save a thought for poor Lowie," Alema remarked at her side a moment later, stepping ahead of her and taking over at the front of the line. "You and I can remove our clothes if things get too warm, but Wookiees can't exactly take off their skin."

The Twi'lek's tone was mocking, but as Jaina's gaze swept over the damp, matted fur of her giant friend, she realized it was true. Lowie had no way of getting cool, except to rely on the force, so that was what she would do.

They were all in this together, after all.

The faintest of noises sang out in Jaina's ears, and at first, she thought it was just the distant echo of the other strike team members behind them; however, after reaching into the force, the eldest Solo recognized the din of the words.

It was a Yuuzhan Vong battle cry, which could mean only one thing: they were in the tunnels, too!

"Alema! Lowie!"

"Yeah, I know," the Twi'lek replied, "I can hear it, too; but we can't help the others until we find a way out of here."

She was right. They had to find a way out of these tunnels, or close to a thousand Yuuzhan Vong warriors would be bearing down on their little band of Jedi faster than you could say Sith.

Jaina took off at a sprint, charging around each bend and curve like an out of control reek. She lost track of how far she had gone, or even if the other two were still behind her; until she hit a dead end, that is.

The tunnel stopped abruptly, the old exit sealed with what looked to Jaina like a huge, yorik coral plug.

They were stuck.

"All right, Alema," she said, as the Twi'lek and Wookiee careened around the last corner to join her at the dead end. "Got any other bright ideas?"

***---***

He couldn't take this anymore. Watching someone he loved die right before his eyes was torture, and probably affected him more than if she was already dead.

If she'd died back in the slave city, he would have been able to do something; would have been able to avenge her death. But this slow dying… he felt useless, because he was.

There was nothing he could do for her, and it was killing him.

Anakin Solo was a doer; he didn't rest until he'd exhausted every possible avenue. He was reckless and bold, and those qualities didn't help him this time.

They'd saved Tahiri before, when she'd been a Yuuzhan Vong captive on Yavin IV, but not now.

Now, the only thing he could do was sit and watch, as the beautiful girl he loved so much transformed into a vapid, empty shell of a person.

Taking out his heart would have been much less painful.

"I'm afraid that's all I can do," Tekli said, her tone apologetic as she rocked back on Tahiri's legs to look at him.

"What are you saying?" Anakin asked, the question coming out little more than a whisper. He was scared to even ask the healer; scared of what the answer might be, and of what the truth would do to him.

"I'm saying sorry, Anakin," the Chadra-Fan reiterated. "Short of a healing trance, there's nothing more I can do."

Beside them, Tahiri burst into silent tears.

"So there's no hope? Nothing?" His voice was cracking under the strain that this news had caused, and he was grasping at straws; he knew that. But he needed hope, if only the smallest sliver; and so did Tahiri.

"There's always hope," Tekli murmured. "If the Force is with us, then everything will be ok."

"Thank you," Anakin said, placing his larger hand over the healer's smaller, furry one, and giving it a grateful pat. "For everything."

"I just wish I could do more," the Chadra-Fan replied disconsolately.

"Y-you've done m-m-more than enough," Tahiri insisted through her tears, letting her gratitude seep into the meld. "But there are others that need your assistance right now."

"Yes," Tekli agreed, shuffling off the blonde's legs and onto the gritty ground. "I must tend to the others, but if you need anything else, please do not hesitate to let me know."

She scooped up her medpack and used bandages, and waddled over to where Zekk and Tenel Ka lay, peeling their melted jumpsuits away from their acid burns.

"I'm s-so g-g-glad you're w-with me."

Those words were his undoing. Turning back to face his pain-stricken girlfriend, Anakin Solo broke down. Tears streaked clear patches down his grimy cheeks, and his eyes stung with the mix of salt, dirt and coral dust.

This was really it. These were the last moments he would spend with his beloved; this mission was the last he would see of her. He knew this now; he felt it in his entire being, and that was what made this so hard. Tekli had said that there was always hope, but Anakin knew in his heart that there was none.

One way or another, the young leader knew that he would lose her.

Ever so gently, he brushed at Tahiri's own tears with the back of his thumb, tilting his head to the side in order to get a better look at her. He bit down on his bottom lip, trying to stop it from quivering.

"I-It's n-n-not so b-bad," she rasped, shifting her position against the wall so that she was sitting up a little more. "At l-least I-I k-know you're o-ok."

"But, how can I go on without you? You're everything to me!"

"Shhh... y-you have to s-s-stay strong, ok? Can y-you do that... f-for me?"

Anakin nodded slowly, and he found even this small movement difficult. How he was going to be able to stand and function again after this he didn't know. His head felt like a lead weight on his shoulders, and with every second that passed, it got harder to breath.

"I'll a-always be with y-you, Anakin. I promise. I... I l-love you."

"I love you, too, Tahiri," he told her, his emotions taking over and clouding his vision. "I always have, and I always will."

Through their bond, he was hit with her overwhelming desire to be kissed, so he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers, pouring all of his love and admiration he felt for her into their connection.

Despite her fragile condition, she deepened the kiss, wrapping her shaking arms around his neck and holding on tight.

Just when Anakin thought he could stay like this forever, Tahiri gave a short cough while he was still exploring her mouth, and he tasted something sour and metallic.

_Blood._

He pulled back sharply, sticking his fingers on the tip of his tongue and lifting them towards his eyes for inspection.

Pale red liquid covered the end of his index finger. It wouldn't be long now.

"Jacen! Ganner! I need help!" he cried in a panicked tone, whipping his head from left to right madly. During one of the passes, he heard the beginnings of a Yuuzhan Vong battle cry.

"Kriff!" he cursed, grabbing Tahiri by one arm and hoisting her to her feet.

They were in the tunnels now, and they were close. The Jedi had very little time to get out and back into open space, and with so many injured, it would only make their task more complicated.

"Jacen! Ganner! _NOW_!"

***---***

The Jedi were at their weakest right now, and Welk doubted there'd be a more opportune moment for he and Lomi to take control of the situation.

Anakin was too focused on his dying girlfriend to notice any kind of revolt, and the least injured members – Jaina, the Twi'lek and the Wookiee – were somewhere in the tunnels ahead of the group.

The only definite resistance would come from the eldest Jedi, Ganner Rhysode, and the other Solo boy, Jacen; however, neither one would be too difficult to dispatch by a pair of Shadow Academy trainees. It would only take a flick of their wrists, and the mighty warriors would crumble.

Welk's narrowed gaze darted to the left, catching the cold eyes of his dark partner, Lomi Plo. They might be on the outer of the battle meld, but they still had their own force bond in place, which the Jedi didn't know about, and they were using that connection to their advantage now.

Welk put a questioning proposition to his female counterpart, which she quickly dismissed, shaking her head sharply.

That was all the response he needed to stay put. He leaned up against the yorik coral wall, his hands in the pockets of his black, matted robes, and observed the scene enfolding before him.

There would be plenty of time to make their move on the unsuspecting Jedi.

At least he knew that time would come sooner rather than later.


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31: The Dark Side Clouds Everything.**

Tesar Sebatyne's light green blade cut out first, and Lowbacca's followed suit soon after. The strike team had come to a dead end, a thick chunk of yorik coral blocking them from going any further, but with the Yuuzhan Vong hot on their heels, they'd had no choice except to go through it.

That was what they were attempting to do now, using their lightsabers to cut through the block.

It was slow going. The coral was a lot harder than they'd first thought, and the Yuuzhan Vong were getting ever closer.

"Maybe we should go back while we still can?" Zekk suggested, limping over to where Anakin stood, overseeing the cutting. "We went past plenty of paths branching off from this one on the way here."

"Yes, but none of them would take us where we need to go," Alema Ra told him, igniting her silver sword and taking over from Tesar. "This is the way we must go; I know it is."

Zekk shot an expectant glance at the leader, as if he was waiting for him to overrule the Twi'lek. When Anakin said nothing, the tall Jedi begrudgingly activated his own lightsaber, taking up position next to Alema with a heavy sigh.

Ganner took this all in as he sat back from the rest of the group, pretending he was observing the progress of the cutting, when in actual fact, he was keeping a close eye on the two Dark Jedi.

He'd been doing some serious thinking since his conversation with Tahiri, and the more he watched Lomi and Welk's behavior, the more concerned he became for the team's well-being.

They were up to something, that much was for sure, and it was only a matter of time before Ganner figured out exactly _what _that something was.

Until then, he was going to keep his suspicions a secret from the rest of the group. There was no point in degrading the group morale any further without concrete evidence against the newest members.

He let his eyes do a mandatory sweep of the area and saw that Jacen was headed his way; no doubt to talk about Tahiri and what she might have told him.

Ganner took a long, slow breath, trying to calm his beating heart. The expression on the Solo boy's face was a mixture of determination and wariness, and he had every reason to be uneasy around the decoy leader, particularly after what Tahiri had told him.

Anakin had assigned Ganner the task of carrying the wounded blonde while they ran down the tunnel to where Jaina, Alema and Lowbacca were waiting, already hacking into the tough coral with their sabers. During this trip, Tahiri had told him of her concerns for Jacen; she'd informed him of what the Jedi had done to the slaves, and how he felt no remorse for his actions.

Shortly after that, she'd lapsed into unconsciousness, and had been in a pain-induced stupor ever since.

One look at Jacen told you he knew she'd said something about him, but Ganner seriously doubted the boy knew what that something was; and he wasn't about to put Tahiri in it, especially not if her uncertainties turned out to be true.

If Jacen really _was _struggling with his inner darkness like Tahiri had said, then they were all in a great deal of trouble.

"Ganner, can I talk to you for a second?"

He resisted the urge to steal a glance at the little blonde crouched in the corner, and stared right into Jacen's steely gaze. "Sure. What's up?"

"I know Tahiri's spoken about me to you, and I just wanted to try and set the record straight. As you know, she's not exactly acting herself right now. The pain's getting to her, and she's been saying some things..."

Ganner put up a hand to stop the Jedi mid-sentence, and made sure to flash him a puzzled look. "Are you trying to tell me that Tahiri was lying when she told me about her vision?"

"What?" This response visibly threw Jacen, and it took him a moment to regain his composure. "No, I wasn't talking about that conversation. I was talking about the _other _one... the one you had on our way here."

"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean," he told him, creasing his brow for effect. "She was babbling about Anakin, not you."

"Anakin?"

"Yes. She's worried that her injury is affecting his leadership; but I'd rather not go into too much detail. It was a private conversation, after all."

"Of course."

He watched as Jacen gave a long, purposeful stare at the sleeping form of Tahiri, before flashing Ganner a forced smile.

"Ganner! Jacen! You're up next!" Anakin Solo's voice cut across the tunnel.

The decoy leader switched on his light sword and headed over to the half open yorik coral plug, the eldest Solo boy close behind.

He was certain now that everything Tahiri had told him was true, and he only hoped that the _other _piece of information she'd divulged – the part about Jacen wanting to sacrifice himself on Myrkr – was also true.

If it wasn't, the galaxy was in for a rough ride.

***---* **

Ganner Rhysode was a liar. He was covering for Tahiri, and Jacen knew it; however, he also knew that there was no way the decoy leader would admit to this.

Not that it mattered, really. He'd scared Tahiri when he'd revealed to her the nature of Tenel Ka's silent fury, and had frightened her even more when he'd said he felt no guilt over what he'd done, so it was only natural that she express her fears to someone.

If there was a positive in her betrayal, it was that she chose to confide in Ganner and not Anakin.

Either way, he knew he couldn't trust her anymore. This was where he and Tahiri's paths went their separate ways. Jacen could no longer count on her for help, and vice versa.

"You might want to put a little more effort into your cuts," Ganner's snide voice remarked from his left. "This is a matter of life and death; except, of course, if you want to die."

Jacen smirked to himself as he considered the ironic truth behind the decoy leader's words. Wanting to die wasn't quite the way _he'd_ put it. It wasn't like he had a death wish, but rather, dying on this mission was the right thing to do.

He could see what was happening; see how he was changing, and what he would end up as if he didn't end his path here. The similarities between the Jacen he was now, and the stories he'd heard of his grandfather, Anakin Skywalker, were scary.

There was no way he was going to let himself get stuck so far down that dark path that he refused to end it for the sake of his family. There was only one chance to stop his transformation, and that was here, on Myrkr.

He already knew how he was going to do that. It was a given that Anakin, the fearless leader he was, would want to lead the team that went off to take care of the voxyn queen; but as long as Jacen was around, that wasn't going to happen. _He_ would be the one to do the hunting; only he wouldn't be coming back like the others would expect.

Yes... everything was planned out in his head, and if he took a few _problems _down with him in the process, so much the better.

The only issue with taking out the impending threats was getting them to cooperate at the right time. He threw a sidelong glance over his right shoulder and stared coldly at the silhouettes of the Dark Jedi, slumped against the far wall.

It didn't matter, really. Jacen had prepared for that, too, and if everything went according to plan, his little brother would be able to help make that happen for him.

When he was pleased with the way things were panning out, Jacen pushed all thoughts of plans and Dark Jedi from his mind, focusing himself on the task at hand.

First, he needed to help Ganner finish their shift at cutting an exit before the Yuuzhan Vong caught up with them. That was priority one. Then, once they were out in the open again, he could concentrate on his more pressing matters: ridding the Jedi of their worrisome friends, and getting his siblings off the planet alive.

Even before he could do that, there was something very important he needed to do. He could only hope that Tahiri, who he'd hurt significantly during their last conversation, would spare him enough time to listen.

***---* **

"Jacen is going to be a problem," the gravelly voice of Lomi Plo whispered in Welk's ear, as he and his female companion stood at the back of the group, keeping a careful eye on the progress of the Jedi.

It was true that the attitude of the eldest Solo male had changed over the course of the mission, and not to the advantage of the Dark Jedi, either. He'd become quiet and reserved, and there was something about his aura that wasn't entirely stable. It wasn't darkness exactly, but it was awfully close to it.

"You don't think he could be manipulated to aid us?" he asked.

It was a simple question, but one with a not-so-simple answer. The more Welk sat on the edges of the Solo boy's mind, the more qualities he found that could be of benefit to he and Lomi's plans.

There was a hardness in Jacen's gaze that hid the turmoil flowing inside him; a rigidity to his stance that showed he was unwavering in his ideals, and a haziness that covered his mind, clouding his perception of what was right and wrong.

Welk saw a lot of potential in the boy and his new persona, yet the same traits he found intriguing could also be detrimental to their task.

Jacen's inner struggle left him slightly unstable, and his obstinate view on what he was doing meant it would be difficult to sway his motives to their needs.

"No," Lomi Plo finally answered him, staring stonily ahead. "I think he's a liability that needs to be taken care of."

There was a hint of uncertainty in Lomi's voice as she said this; an almost defensive air that told Welk she felt threatened when confronted with the possibility of adding to their dark ranks.

Jacen was a threat to her, and in more ways than one. If he was able to sway Solo, there was really no need for Lomi Plo to continue living. Her replacement would be much stronger, smarter and more cunning than she, and Dark Jedi weren't exactly renowned for their loyalty.

She was afraid for her life, but she needn't worry too hard on the subject. The probability of Jacen turning and aiding Welk over his friends and siblings was more than unlikely, and because of that fact, there was no point in even bothering to continue that particular thought process.

Welk needed somebody he could trust if he was going to overthrow the Jedi and get off this cursed planet, and the only person here who fit that bill in even the most remote sense was Lomi Plo.

Whether Dark Jedi were notoriously known for betrayal or not was beside the point. He couldn't implement his plan by himself, and neither could she. They needed each other to make it out of this alive, so they had no choice but to stick together.

At least, of course, until they got in the air.

While he pondered these dark thoughts, there was a loud rumble from inside the circle of Jedi that was immediately followed by a swarm of falling coral chunks, and then a scream filled with so much joy that it made Welk sick to the stomach.

From amongst the commotion of blissful cheers and dancing bodies, he caught a glimpse of something shiny and very inanimate.

As the crowd parted, his beady eyes latched onto the magnificent form of a ship – old, and covered in a mass of coral dust and debris, yet noticeably in one functional piece.

Finally, the sign they'd been waiting for: a ship… their ticket off this rock.

"It looks like the force is finally with us!" he heard one of the Jedi shriek in exhaustive relief.

Welk glanced at Lomi Plo and gave her a twisted wink. "No. The force is finally with _us_."


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32: Promises.**

Anakin was in his element, and not just because he was tinkering with machinery. He'd finally accomplished the one goal he feared he'd never be able to achieve as leader after the mission turned sour: he'd found a way home.

All of the resentment and despair that had been clouding the battle meld for so long had drifted away with the coral dust the second the _Tachyon Flier_ had been found, and for the first time since leaving the safety of Alliance space, something not unlike hope had taken hold of the group.

It was a wonderful feeling, thinking you'd done something right for a change, and Anakin couldn't help but put his own belief in this newfound faith. They were all going to be ok, and perhaps, if they moved fast enough, Tahiri would be as well.

He glanced through the gap between the ship and the ground at his girlfriend's sleeping form, rubbing at a patch of grease that he'd smudged on his cheek earlier. Despite Tahiri's weak protests, Tekli had put the young girl in a healing trance while the rest of the team reworked the engines of the _Flier_ and readied it for take off.

As soon as all of the ship's systems checked out, a small group would head out into the dense foliage and take care of the voxyn queen. If that went smoothly, they could have their mission completed and be on their way home before nightfall.

The thought brought a smile to Anakin's weary face, and for a moment, he let his mind run away with itself. With the voxyn destroyed, the Jedi wouldn't have to run from the horrid creatures anymore, and the Yuuzhan Vong would once again be on the back foot.

Peace was just around the corner for them - he could feel it in his bones. He looked once more at Tahiri, watching the laboured rise and fall of her chest as she struggled to breath, even in the trance. Once they were all home, and she was out of the bacta she needed, he would take her to visit his parents on the _Falcon_, or wherever they happened to be at that particular time.

Then, he would tell his mother and father just how much he loved the little blonde, and announce that he be given permission to marry her.

A tear glistened in Anakin's blue eyes at the prospect of marrying his love. This trip had brought them closer together than he'd thought possible, and he knew with all his heart that there was no one he'd rather spend his life with than Tahiri.

They were two halves of the one being, and nothing made sense without her.  
_  
Together you are stronger than the sum of your parts._

The ghostly echo of Master Ikrit's prophecy rang out in his mind, and it was ironic that he'd chosen this very moment to remember it - right before he ran into the thick of danger, and Tahiri lay on the brink of death.

At the time, he hadn't believed the old Jedi Master, with his backwards words and mystical warnings, but now that he looked back on everything he and the petite blonde had been through together, he saw that Ikrit's statement was in fact true.

Together, they could do anything, and if they got off Myrkr soon enough, they may even be able to cheat death.

Together.

There was a soft rustle behind him, like the sound a synthetic jumpsuit would make if it were brushed up against something metallic. Anakin slid out from under the stationary vessel, a socket wrench in one hand and a soiled rag in the other, and peered up at the dark brown eyes of her sister.

"Is something wrong, Jaina?"

"Tesar tells me the Vong have gotten through the first roadblock, and at the rate they're moving, it won't take them long to get through the second."

Her tone was calm and clear, but Anakin had known his sister all his life, and could tell by the subtle changes she made to her straight expression that she was as scared as she'd ever been. Her mouth had formed a thin line after she'd finished speaking, and the jowls of flesh just below her earlobes twitched ever so slightly, displaying her apprehension she was feeling only to those closest to her.

When the Jedi had cut through the yorik coral plug earlier, they'd found a workable ship, as well as a large pile of other infidel equipment, including a few broken down speeders and bikes. In order to give themselves enough time to get the small ship ready to launch, they'd piled the other useless objects in a heap down the tunnel, breaking them apart at two separate intervals. Apparently, the Yuuzhan Vong had already broken through the first of those.

"What do we do now?" Jaina asked.

Anakin's normal reflex would be to fire the question back at her, giving it a sarcastic edge, but this was battle, and he was the leader. Childhood jokes and games were nothing but a distant memory now.

"How much ammunition do we have left?"

"Is there a plan behind this, or are you just stalling until you think of a real one?"

When he didn't answer her, she spun around to face the others and rattled off the question, waiting for each Jedi's response.

"Three blasters, half a dozen thermals and five grenades," Jaina dictated.

"Taking into account that we do need some of those left to destroy the queen," Zekk added, stepping to Jaina's side, his left leg dragging a little from the acid burns.

"Ok, just give me a minute."

Anakin paced around the small inlet, his grubby hands clasped firmly behind his back, and his head bent as he contemplated what to do next. They needed the thermals and blasters for the raid on the grashal, so they couldn't use them, and that only left the five grenades to somehow stop the mass of Yuuzhan Vong warriors bearing down on them.

"How wide is that tunnel?"

"About four by four I'd say," Ganner replied. "Why?"

"If we used all the grenades, and saved the thermals for the voxyn warren, do you think we'd be able to knock enough coral down to block the exit?"

Lowie growled a short response, and Anakin looked at Jaina for the translation.

"It's worth a try," she offered, shrugging.

"Then let's get to it."

***---***

Tahiri Veila woke to the sound of exploding coral and instinctively reached for the weapon clipped to her utility belt, ready to defend herself from attack.

It took her a moment to register that there was no actual battle raging in her vicinity, and as she tuned in her senses to the noise, found it was coming from the tunnel exit they'd cut.

Relaxing somewhat from this observation, she slumped down the wall a little more, letting her head rock to one side, and closing her eyes against the blinding flashes of the detonations.

She didn't know how long she'd been in the healing trance, but if the throbbing in her head and chest was any indication, it wasn't nearly long enough. Her throat was beyond dry and caked with toxic coral particles. Every breath she took was like a piece of rolled-up sandpaper had just been forced down her windpipe, and there was a constant tickle at the roof of her mouth that she refused to give in to, for fear of splitting her stitches once more.

Tahiri let her half-focused gaze sweep around the open inlet, noticing the small ship that rested in one corner, and the lack of Jedi scattered around. She figured that most of them would be wherever it was the explosions were happening.

Fighting against the pain that laced through her abdomen as she moved, the blonde girl shifted her position against the wall, stopping when she was lying flat on her back. She grunted after the final roll, pressing one hand down on her wound as the loose stitches threatened to reopen the hole.

A shadow fell over her face, making it hard for her to see who was towering above her. "Do you need help?" the person asked. The voice was so deep that it was definitely male, but because of the loud rumble of explosions still reverberating around the chamber, she couldn't quite distinguish which of the Jedi it belonged to.

A vibrant sheet of orange light shot out from the opposite direction, illuminating the shadow's face as if it had been bathed in liquid fire.

She shrank back as soon as the man's features came into focus and clutched at the hilt of her lightsaber, savouring the feeling of protection it gave her.

"I don't need your help, Jacen," she wheezed, trying to make her tone as menacing as possible.

He ignored her not-so-subtle warning, instead opting to sit down next to her on the gritty ground, pulling his knees to his chest and rocking gently on the balls of his feet. "I'm not here to hurt you, Tahiri, or threaten you in any way. I just want to talk."

"Talk?" she asked cynically. "You mean the way you talked to me before, when you told me you felt no remorse for killing innocent beings? Or do you mean talk with your fists, like you did when I threatened to question Tenel Ka?"

"No," he replied, "I mean talk, as in I have a favour to ask of you."

Tahiri couldn't believe what she was hearing. Jacen Solo had been downright cruel to her during their last encounter, and had point blank told her that he was already starting down the dark path, yet he had a favour to ask of _her_?

It was more than slightly ludicrous, and despite the fact that he had told her he wasn't here to inflict more pain, her hand remained on her glossy weapon all the same, hovering over the activation switch.

"Go ahead," she hissed, "Ask away. Tell me what I could possibly do for you, because I'm so _dying_ to help."

Jacen chuckled softly, the corners of his mouth upturning in a tense grin. "The sarcasm is duly noted." There was a pause, and then the older Jedi resumed the conversation. "The ship is almost ready, so the Jedi who've been assigned to complete the hunt for the voxyn queen will be leaving soon…"

"And who are they exactly?" Tahiri interjected. She had a feeling she knew whose names were going to come out of Jacen's mouth, but as she'd been in the trance when the discussion had taken place, she wanted to know for sure.

"For the moment, Anakin, Jaina, Tesar, Zekk and Tenel Ka. But don't worry, I'm going to change all of that, just as soon as Anakin gets back from blocking the tunnel."

"So you're still going through with the plan, then?"

"Of course," Jacen said, clearly a little surprised at this question. "I still have to make sure I save Anakin, and I know it's the right thing to do."

Tahiri snorted at this, the mocking response irritating her throat and sending a tremor of coughs rattling through her system. "I would have thought that by now, the right thing for you to do would be to survive the mission and take over the military, stopping along the way to get yourself measured for one of those black masks like your grandfather's, of course."

Jacen simply nodded, that same unnerving smile plastered across his face, which was now covered in a liberal amount of growth.

For a time, the only sound that passed between them was the sporadic blasts and the thud of falling coral. The silence was uncomfortable, and Tahiri found herself wondering whether Anakin's brother was plotting her demise in that twisted mind of his.

Evidently he wasn't, because his next sentence was more heartfelt than anything she'd heard from him during the entire operation. It was possible that he could be lying, but from the content of what he said, she didn't think that was very likely.

"I need you to promise me you'll take care of Anakin when I'm gone."

Her bottom lip quivered at this request. How could she possibly take care of his brother if she didn't make it back alive?

"You're going to be fine, Tahiri," he told her, obviously reading her thoughts. "Anakin won't let you die; he's too stubborn. And I'll have you all out of here before nightfall, so you'll make bacta in time. I promise."

"I wish I shared your optimism," she mumbled.

"Tahiri," Jacen said, his tone not quite stern in nature, "I can't go through with this unless I know my little brother's going to be ok."

"What about Jaina? Don't you care about her as well?"

"Of course I do!" he cried. "But Jaina's got Zekk to help her through, and when she gets home, Kyp and that Chiss pilot, Fel. Anakin only has you. He's never really bonded with anyone else." He looked at the ground for a moment, before continuing in a more subdued tone. "I don't want to end my path here, only to find that he took it over after I was gone."

"Anakin would never turn to the darkside," Tahiri said without hesitation.

"I used to think the same thing about myself once," added Jacen, his eyes darting to the raised scars on her forehead, and falling once again to the tops of his bent legs. "And now look at me. You told me what I would become, and I _still_ followed that path. No one is safe from the darkside, Tahiri, and no matter how highly you think of my brother, that no one includes him, too."

He had a point, but that didn't mean she was about to voice her agreement to him. In its place, she offered him what he'd come to get – the promise to look out for his baby sibling after he was no longer a part of this world.

"I'll take care of Anakin, Jacen. You have my word on that."

"Thank you, Tahiri. I knew I didn't really have to ask. You love him so much that you would do it anyway, but I needed to hear you say it before I left; just once…" His voice trailed off, and the young blonde thought she heard the hint of a choke as he struggled to keep going.

"I also wanted to thank you for your help on this mission, and say goodbye in person." Jacen leaned over to plant a feather-light kiss on her clammy cheek, and flashed her one of those famous Solo smiles that made girls melt on sight. "May the force be with you always, Jedi Veila."

"May the force be with you, too, Jacen," she rasped, "Wherever you go."

***---***

"Good news, everyone! The _Tachyon Flier_ is ready to launch!"

A roar of cheers followed Anakin's announcement, and the leader's brother couldn't help but feel a sense of pride with the way the young boy had conducted himself on this mission.

Unfortunately, there would be no leaving yet; at least not until the job they'd come to do was complete. Too many great Jedi had died for them to abandon the fight now, especially not when they were so close to achieving their goal.

Beside him, Jaina began to stash the last of the thermal detonators into her small equipment pouch. "What do you think you're doing?" Jacen asked in a low voice, grabbing at her busy hands to stop the preparation.

"Packing a picnic," came her smart reply. "What do you think?"

Before the _Flier_ had been fully repaired, Anakin had decided which Jedi would accompany him on the final trek to the voxyn warren. Jaina wasn't his first choice, but in typical Solo form, she'd insisted on going along. Zekk, one of his sister's closest friends on this mission, had of course decided to accompany her.

At the time of the discussion, Jacen had been busy checking through the rest of the infidel junk for anything useful with Ganner Rhysode, so of course they'd been included in the list of Jedi staying behind with the ship.

There was no point to protest the decision then, but now that everyone was going through the final weapons checks, Jacen saw no reason to keep his silence on the subject any longer.

"I can do the same job you're doing with a lot less Jedi and a lot less of a risk," he said, addressing his younger brother.

Anakin eyed him sharply, clearly not happy with his challenge of command. "I've already decided on the group's members, Jacen, and you're staying behind." His expression hardened in a way that was a warning to the older Jedi, almost challenging him to defy his orders once more.

Jacen didn't want to be one to disappoint, so he rose from the kneeling position he'd been sitting in to his full height, which was a good foot taller than Anakin. "I'm in better shape than you are right now, and I have a gift with the animals that would allow me to get closer to the grashal than you, or anyone else."

"Anything else you'd like to add before _I_ go?"

It was obvious that the young leader wasn't going to give in without a fight, so it was time for Jacen to play dirty. "You're taking Jaina with you, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"That's two Solos in a small band of Jedi, going on one of the most dangerous and important treks of the mission. What if something happened out there, and none of you returned? Don't you think that's a little selfish, causing mum and dad more grief than you need to?"

Anakin's ice blue eyes narrowed at this, and his teeth clenched together. "Fine. Jaina stays, and Lowbacca goes instead."

At the mention of his name, the Wookiee leapt up from his place on the floor and snatched the equipment pouch out of Jaina's grasp, roaring something that Jacen couldn't quite decipher.

"It's not fair that you take all the burden on this mission. You've done so much for the team, but don't you think it's time you sat on the sidelines for a change?"

"I'm the leader, so naturally, it's my job to lead."

The elder Solo groaned in frustration. Short of manipulating his brother's mind in the force, he didn't know what else to do.

He was saved from the horrible task by the cocky voice of the decoy leader, Ganner. "Jacen makes a good point, Anakin."

All eyes flicked around to face the fair-haired Jedi, and Jacen's wasn't the only jaw that had fallen to the floor. After their rather reserved argument before the _Flier_ was found, Ganner was the last person Jacen would expect to stick up for him.

"Disputing a leader's command is a good point how?" Anakin's arms folded roughly over his chest, and his mouth set in a taut line, waiting for the decoy leader to elaborate.

Ganner coughed nervously a few times and rested one hand on his chin in a pensive gesture. "Well, for starters, his skill with the animals is unsurpassed, and that would really be a great asset to the task. Also, Tahiri needs you, now more than ever. She's in a bad way, Anakin, and I'm not sure she'll make it without you." He paused for a moment, and when no one said anything against his reasoning, continued. "Jacen and I could get in and out in no time, and be back before the ship's final checks are over."

"Wait… what do you mean 'you and I?'" Jacen's forehead was covered in creases as he tried to make sense of what the older Jedi was saying. Ganner wanted to go on a mission _alone_ with a person he knew, or suspected, was falling to the darkside? That was more than a little crazy.

"Do you have a problem with this, Jacen?" Anakin asked. When he shook his head in response, his little brother added, "Good, because I sure don't."

"Anakin," Jaina said firmly, "This is insane…"

"No, Ganner was right. I need to stay with Tahiri, and they have a better chance of getting the job done faster than us, and the less time we have to spend on this nightmare of a rock, the better."

Anakin pressed an equipment pouch into Jacen's open palm and squeezed for a few seconds. "Thank you," he whispered. It was so quiet that the older boy doubted anyone else would have heard it.

He and Ganner collected the rest of the ammunition from the other members and strapped them to their person, giving their lightsabers a quick test slash on their way out.

"All set," Ganner said, smiling grimly. "Let's get this over and done with."

"Not just yet," Jacen told him, turning back to group and pointing at a pair of bodies standing at the very back. "Lomi, Welk, you're coming with us."

"Us?" Welk questioned, a flash of fury shooting across his face. "We have no weapons, what good would we do?"

"If you want to make it off this planet, you'll come with us now. Does that answer your question?"

"Your point is well made," Welk hissed, taking a step forward with his hands buried deep in his tattered robes. "But I do not remember young Jedi Solo handing over the leadership of this mission to you when you took on the new task."

"That's because I didn't," Anakin said, jumping into the conversation with a low voice. The Dark Jedi's lips curled into a sneer at this, and he threw a stabbing glare at Jacen.

"However," Anakin added, addressing Welk and Lomi, "As the leader of this mission, I _order_ you to assist Jacen and Ganner with their assignment."

"What?" Lomi growled, staring at the leader in disbelief. "You _order_ us? In case you've forgotten, young Solo, we're not part of your merry band of Jedi, so you can't order us to do anything."

"Very well then," Anakin said matter-of-factly. "Don't go with them. But if you stay here, then I think you'll find your places on the ship will have disappeared."

"You wouldn't dare!" Welk bellowed.

"Try me and find out."

A tense standoff ensued, but it was one that was lost by the Dark Jedi. The two beings begrudgingly made their way to Ganner's side, and while they were doing this, Jacen pointed a beckoning finger at Alema Ra.

The Twi'lek was sitting down next to the ship, fiddling with some kind of mechanical device. She looked up and dropped what she was doing, igniting her sword and stepping over to him without a word.

"Alema, too?" Ganner asked. "I thought you said you could do this by yourself?"

"No, I said I could do it with _less_ Jedi," Jacen corrected him. "We need Alema for tracking, and the two Dark Jedi don't count, because they're not armed. I had all this planned out _before_ you decided to invite yourself along."

"What do you mean by _planned out_?" Ganner inquired, a minute amount of anxiety present in his tone.

"It's nothing that need concern you," Jacen told him, twisting the hanging strap of his utility belt around his little finger agitatedly. "But bringing Lomi and Welk with me is far from coincidence, I'll tell you that."

The decoy leader didn't look convinced of this, but thankfully, didn't bother to elaborate on his concerns.

Alema sauntered past the pair of Jedi at that point, taking the proffered thermals from Jacen's open palms and giving him a playful wink. The dark-haired man looked the Twi'lek up and down, watching as she revelled under his regard. For some reason, he'd felt compelled to bring the girl with him on this mission - his final task as a Jedi.

It wasn't the force that had told him to take Alema, but something else that he couldn't quite put a finger on. A distant memory, perhaps, one that he wasn't sure was real.

"You'd better protect us if we run into any voxyn or Vong out there," Welk warned from his side, shaking Jacen back to the present.

"Don't worry, I promise they won't be the ones to kill you."

"Then you'd also better promise that Welk and I will make it off this planet in one piece," Lomi Plo snarled, "Because I don't like the sound of that veiled threat of yours."

He lowered his gaze so that he was staring straight into the eyes of the dark female, and let his hushed response meet her ears on the passing breeze. "I promise that I will save you from this nightmare, and that is all I will promise you."


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33: Sacrifice**

The small band of Jedi had been trudging through the swampy everglades for far too long. Their senses were overwhelmed with the stench of rotting flesh from the numerous carcasses of both slave and Yuuzhan Vong, and the further they got to the voxyn lair, the greater the number of bodies in their path. The putrid scent magnified with each step they took, hampering their progress and affecting their train of thought.

Jacen shook his head for the millionth time in as many seconds, trying to clear the fog the gut-wrenching aroma had settled in his mind. There was so much to think about, and the hopes of all the remaining Jedi on this mission – his brother, sister and the injured Tahiri – rested on his successful completion of this final task.

Lethargy was taking hold of him. Countless days of little sleep and constant alertness had finally taken its toll on the ragged form of the young man, and even the somewhat simple task of moving his legs up and down in the thick sludge was unbelievably difficult. It felt like a tone of yorik coral was dangling from his battered knees, and with every movement, more weight was piled onto the invisible load.

The others were feeling the same strain as he was. He was aware of their sheer exhaustion and lack of motivation through the open connection of the battle meld, but it wasn't worth the energy to try and lift their spirits. Whether Ganner and Alema were optimistic about this last mission was irrelevant now; Jacen knew what he had to do, and he didn't need any of them to help.

The hard part was over. They'd made it to the edge of the voxyn grashal's protective thorn hedge relatively unscathed, and as far as he was concerned, the others were nothing but bantha fodder – disposable assets, no longer required.

He cast a weary glance over his right shoulder, catching the steely gaze of the decoy leader, Ganner Rhysode. He'd been Jacen's unexpected ally in all this, mirroring his own agenda to rid the group of the troublesome Dark Jedi, Lomi and Welk. Through this joint dislike of the Shadow Academy students, the two young men had bonded to an extent, secretly planning a way to dispose of the threat as soon as the right opportunity presented itself.

Now that they'd come to a grinding halt to put the next phase of Jacen's plan into action, he suspected that if their dark counterparts were going to make a stand against them, it was going to be soon.

It was time to do this.

Crouching lower behind the hedge and keeping his voice as quiet as possible so that it didn't carry to the sensitive ears of the voxyn queen resting deep inside the lair, Jacen whispered the next course of action. He made sure to delegate certain tasks by name, like the cutting of the thorn hedge and the point positions either side of the grashal entrance.

Both Ganner and Alema took their roles with a brusque nod of their heads, but when Jacen instructed the Dark Jedi to hang behind the others, all he received was a snarl in reply. Of course, he wasn't anticipating anything less from them.

A crackle echoed from the comm earpiece hanging off the clip on the collar of Jacen's armored jumpsuit, and the split second it took for him to answer the incoming call and reattach the tiny speaker to his ear gave Lomi and Welk enough time to strike.

There was a loud snap-hiss from behind him as two fluorescent blades snapped to life in the Dark Jedi's hands, illuminating the surrounding grashal in a combination of magenta and lemon light. A collective gasp of horror flew around the group as each set of eyes fell on the hilts of these hidden weapons, recognition immediately flashing across Jacen's face as he realized, all too late, exactly how long the two traitors had been planning this betrayal. In Welk's tightened grip was the missing sword of Raynar Thul and in Lomi's clutches was the much-prized weapon of the late Eryl Besa.

They'd stolen these particular lightsabers way back at the slave city, when everyone had been too preoccupied with the deadly battle to notice any hint of such treachery.

_Except Tekli…_

In that single moment, Jacen knew just what had happened at the slave city, how cunning Lomi and Welk had been to be able to hide such an act from everyone in the strike team. When the unsuspecting healer had stumbled across their little sabotage scheme, they'd taken her out, and blamed a piece of flying debris on her severe injuries.

And the Jedi had just believed them.

With a guttural roar that was a surprise to his own ears as well as everyone else's, Jacen ignited his saber and charged at the Dark Jedi, grunting with pure concentration as emerald light met yellow. He danced around his enemies with military precision, arcing and slicing his blade through the air in a methodical manner.

Anger and hate blazed inside him as he fought the evil beings, and the only desire that remained in his heart was that of cold-blooded murder. He wanted to kill Lomi and Welk so badly that his once coffee-colored eyes burned vivid gold, the flames of his inner fury visible in his irises. Jacen knew what they were going to do if he let them escape now, and there was no way he was going to allow that to happen.

Beside him, Alema Ra stood stock still, staring at the ongoing battle in disbelief, her lightsaber firmly fastened to her utility belt. He'd never been more pleased that he'd decided upon bringing her along. She was the first and only Jedi to fully trust Lomi and Welk the second they'd saved them all from the torturous Yuuzhan Vong, so it was no shock to find that she was having so much trouble deciding where her allegiance now lie.

Alema was destined for darkness, just like Jacen was - the only difference between them was that Jacen was willing to make the painful choices required to prevent such a destiny. He was ready to sacrifice himself for those he cared about most, but she was not.

He was ready to die for those people… right now.

Ducking under a low-swinging beam of light, Jacen rolled away from the fight, letting an overzealous Ganner take over. The decoy leader had been itching to get a jab in at the Dark Jedi, and while Jacen would have loved to be the one to take away their last breaths, he knew that his skill was needed elsewhere.

He wanted to die a hero today, and nothing and nobody was going to take that away from him.

"Just go!" Ganner cried over the hum of blade on blade as he slashed his golden sword at the exposed head of Lomi Plo. "I can take it from here!"

Jacen nodded his thanks, giving his partner a salute in respect for the man's selfless surrender, and took off in the direction of the voxyn grashal, making sure that the still gaping Twi'lek was hot on his heels.

A lump rose in his throat as he neared the thorned entrance. This was it, his final resting place. He would die here today, in this squalled setting. It was a numbing thought, and one that Jacen tried hard not to think about as he readied the explosives hanging from his belt. Alema sidled alongside him, mimicking his movements as she, too, prepared the last of the thermals for the task ahead.

There progress was interrupted by a blood-curdling scream, and then a dull thud as the weight of a grown man fell to his knees on the hard terrain. Jacen didn't need to turn around to know who was crouching on the ground; the bleakness of the battle meld told him instantly that it was Ganner who'd been wounded.

Frantic scuffling followed the scream and thud, the telltale sign of two cowardly beings bidding a hasty retreat. Lomi and Welk had taken out Ganner, and were now on their way to steal the _Flier_.

The other Jedi didn't stand a chance.

Alema had already rushed to Ganner's aide by the time Jacen had reconnected his communicator, the blue Twi'lek clutching at the elder Jedi's torn jumpsuit and pouring the force into his injury.

Jacen's dark eyes fell on the smoking piece of flesh lying on the ground next to his two comrades as he keyed in the code to reach his brother. It was long and slender, with five digits spread around its base.

Ganner Rhysode's left hand.

He winced in sympathy as the comm crackled to life in his eardrums. There was a split second delay in the connection, before his younger brother's voice reverberated down the line. "Jacen? How far away are you? Are you ready to go?"

"No, Anakin, you have to listen to me! Ganner's injured, and the Dark Jedi are on their way to steal the _Flier_."

"What? There's no way they'd be able to-"

"Anakin! Listen!" he interjected, pushing his apprehension into the force in the hope that his younger sibling would recognize the urgency of the situation. "They've stolen lightsabers somewhere along the way, and they've taken out Ganner. They're strong, and they won't let anything stand in their way. There's no time – you have to get out of here now!"

"What are you saying? That we should leave you all to die?" There was a quaver to his tone the broke Jacen's heart, and in a moment of weakness, the elder boy allowed himself the luxury of giving in to his emotions, letting a lonely tear glide down one dirty cheek.

He hated what he had to do; he hated it with a passion. The last thing he wanted to do was leave his little brother and twin sister alone in this world, but unfortunately, he had to. Jacen wanted the best for his family, and the best thing he could do for his, and _all _the families in the galaxy, was die here today.

If he survived, he'd be the death of them all.

Swallowing the lump of emotion that had risen in his throat when he'd first laid eyes on the entrance to the grashal, Jacen uttered the most painful words of his life: "That's exactly what I'm saying, Anakin."

Heavy silence followed this raw statement, and for a time the only sound he could hear was that of his own breathing, and Ganner's anguished groans as Alema struggled to get him back on his feet.

A long line of static broke through the silence. To anyone else's ears, it would have sounded like just that – mindless static; but to Jacen's ears, finally tuned into the force, it was so much more than that.

It was his young brother… crying.

Crying for _him_.

"Please, don't-" Jacen started to say, his request dissolving into an almighty sob as the wall holding in his feelings burst open at the sound of Anakin's distress.

As he let the tears flow freely down his face, a hand gripped one of his shaking shoulders. Through the haze of his lamentation, Jacen saw the contorted face of his fellow Jedi, Ganner Rhysode, his injured arm now wrapped firmly in the torn sleeve of his jumpsuit.

Without a word, the older man took the communicator from Jacen's loose grasp and held it up to his mouth.

"Anakin, this is Ganner," the decoy leader said, his voice catching slightly as he gritted his teeth against the pain of losing a limb. "I'm going to try and buy you enough time to get the _Flier _in the air, but I can't guarantee how long I'll be able to hold off Lomi and Welk, so you have to leave now."

"But I can't leave – not without you, Alema and my brother!"

"Sometimes, as leaders, we're forced to make decisions we're not happy with for the greater good," Ganner answered somberly. "But that doesn't mean you can't care about the things you do."

"I don't understand," Anakin croaked in reply. "Are you trying to make leaving you and my brother behind _easier_?"

"No, Anakin, I'm not. I know that this will be the hardest thing you've ever had to do in your entire life, so nothing I say will make it easier. I'm just trying to help you see that it's the right thing to do. You're a strong boy and a fearless leader, but even you can't save everyone."

He paused, and Jacen thought he saw the hint of a smile flash across the decoy leader's face. "We all knew the dangers when we signed on for this mission. Some of us will make it home, while others won't. That's just the way things go. But if you don't leave now, none of us will make it out alive. As leader of this mission, you have the sole responsibility of making sure that outcome doesn't happen. You need to survive, Anakin. You need to get home."

Ganner handed the comm. back to Jacen's outstretched hand, and with a curt nod of his head, he retrieved his fallen lightsaber and took off after the treacherous Lomi and Welk.

Jacen knew that was the last time he'd see Ganner.

In the curls of his fingers, the forgotten electronic object buzzed as the tiny speakers now wrapped around the device projected the voice of the boy on the other end. "Jacen? Jacen, are you there?"

"Tell mum and dad that I'm sorry, and I love them," he replied shakily, wiping at his blurred vision with the back of one hand. "Take care of Jaina for me."

Before his brother could utter a response to this, he flicked off the comm. and tossed it into a nearby bush. The time had come for Jacen Solo to make his sacrifice. Restoring the determination he'd had at the start of his final journey, Jacen unclipped one of the thermals from his utility belt and took a step towards the grashal; a step towards his _destiny_.

*******

"Jacen? Jacen?!"

It was no use. Anakin knew that his brother had turned off his comm. the second he'd made his last requests. Even in the force, Jacen was hidden from contact. He wasn't dead yet, of that much Anakin was certain; but what he wasn't sure of was how much time his brother had left. From the way Jacen's presence had suddenly withdrawn from the meld, he was guessing it wouldn't be long before his elder sibling was completely lost.

Anakin ran a trembling hand over his stubbled jaw as he switched off his own comm. and reattached it to his belt, letting his tear-filled eyes roam over the scene in front of him.

His girlfriend, Tahiri, was resting in a corner, cradled in the Chadra Fan's furry embrace as the little healer worked her magic on the girl's wounds. She was barely conscious, her appearance a mixture of nonchalance and bleariness, mostly due to her fragile state.

As her emerald eyes rolled to the back of her head for the umpteenth time in as many minutes, Anakin caught a glint of something hidden just beneath the surface. It wasn't grief, but whatever it was, it was dominating her thoughts.

Beside her, Tekli was crying soundlessly, as was Tenel Ka, and the now semi-conscious Raynar Thule. Both Tesar and Lowbacca were kicking coral fragments across the small inlet, their heads bowed with the severity of the situation.

Jaina, however, was wearing an expression even Anakin couldn't quite decipher. She was staring stonily ahead at nothing in particular, her mouth puckered in a wrinkled pout, and her face blank and completely void of emotion. Her fists were clenched so tightly that the skin over her knuckles had turned white, and Anakin wasn't sure whether she was about to punch something or break down in tears.

Zekk, Jaina's constant shadow on this mission, was gripping her shoulders from behind, the man's lanky frame doubled over to compensate for her shortness. His cheeks glistened from his outpouring of grief as he whispered something that was no doubt comforting to her, yet Jaina didn't even seem to notice him at all.

The coldness in his sister's eyes and the way her body stood rigidly scared Anakin more than her emptiness in the force, so he reached out to her with one hand, letting it hang there in space for her to take as he gently called her name.

"Jaina?"

When she didn't respond, he took her hand in his and tugged on her arm, causing her feet to drag slightly across the dusty floor. The only acknowledgement he received from this was the small movement her eyes made as they darted to his face, quickly flicking back to their previous position.

"Come on, Jaya," he coaxed, pulling on her hand again. "We need to move it if we're going to get out of here in time."

Anakin's request was met with deathly silence, and his wasn't the only frustrated groan he heard as Jaina continued to stand and stare. Sighing, he motioned for the others to complete the final diagnostics checks on the ship while he persisted with his sister.

Zekk reluctantly released his hold on her, following the other Jedi to the lowered ramp of the _Flier _and leaving Anakin alone with his sister. At first, the quiet was deafening, hitting Anakin's core and burning a hole straight through as he stood there next to Jaina, one hand clasped firmly on her shoulder blade, the other hooked casually in his belt loop. Just when he thought he couldn't take it any longer, she opened her mouth and spoke, the words spewing from her lips like ice-cold durasteel.

"You just expect me to go and leave him here to die – our brother, my twin?"

He was tempted to simply answer in the affirmative, but given Jaina's cool demeanor, it probably wouldn't be the wisest thing to do in the situation. Instead, Anakin gave himself a moment to compose a suitable reply, unhooking his fingers from his belt and fiddling with the hilt of his lightsaber. "No, but I expect you to follow orders when they've been given."

Her face whirled around instantly to meet his, her coffee brown eyes tinged with fiery glints of molten gold as she glared at him, the edges of her nostrils flaring in anger. "So now you're _ordering _me to leave our brother to die?"

"Jaina, this is the way it has to be," he said softly, his voice catching at he spoke. "I'm sorry. I don't want to leave Jacen any more than you do, but what choice do we have?"

"What _choice _do we have?" she cried incredulously. "We can stay and save him, that's what! He doesn't have to die today, Anakin! Everyone's just accepted that he's done for – you, Tenel Ka, _everyone_! But not me. Jacen's not dead yet, little brother. We can save him if we try, I just know it!"

"No, you can't."

Jaina's face hardened at the same time as Anakin's jaw dropped, for the voice that had uttered that statement had come from behind them, and was all too familiar.

"What?" Jaina hissed, turning her attention to the mop of unruly blonde hair visible from the entrance of the small ship.

"You can't save Jacen," the girl reiterated, her tone weak but resolute.

"I expected better from you, Tahiri Veila."

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, Jaina, but it's the truth. You can't save Jacen, because by the time you make it to the grashal, assuming the swarms of Yuuzhan Vong don't kill you first, he'll already be dead."

Jaina scoffed at this, but Anakin wasn't so quick to dismiss his girlfriend's proclamation. The conviction in her voice was unmistakable, and he knew Tahiri too well to discern that she was indeed telling the truth like she'd said.

"How do you know that, Tahiri?" he asked, taking a step closer to the little blonde.

He could see her emerald eyes, once shining brightly and now dull from the extent of her injuries, flit around nervously as she considered his question, her dirty hands grabbing at her tattered jumpsuit for moral support.

Anakin wondered briefly whether this had been the secret she and Jacen had been keeping the entire mission.

"Because…" she began anxiously, "he's had it all planned out for ages now."

"Jacen's been planning on dying this whole trip?"

"Yes."

"That's a lie!" Jaina growled, unclipping her lightsaber from its hook on her utility belt and flicking on the ignition switch. "Why would he kill himself when he doesn't have to?"

"He's got no choice now," Tahiri said. "The Dark Jedi are coming, and we're too defenseless to risk them getting the _Flier _and leaving us _all _here to die."

"That's true… but you said he'd been planning this for a long time," Anakin replied, his brow creasing in confusion. "Why would he plan that unless… unless he knew what Lomi and Welk were going to do?" A flash of recognition sparked in his mind at this thought. Everything made sense now; Jacen and Tahiri's surreptitious whisperings, his brother's strange behavior…

"Tahiri, did Jacen know about Lomi and Welk's plans?"

"Uh… well… he… uh…" She was as on edge as he'd ever seen, and Anakin knew by her hesitation to answer that there was far more she and Jacen had been hiding.

"You knew, too, didn't you?" he said, shocked. "You and Jacen knew this whole time, and you didn't say _anything _to _anyone_?"

A tear streaked its way down her grubby face as she said in a shaking voice, "Yes."

"Why?" As Anakin voiced this question, he realized in a flooring epiphany that he'd known the answer for a long time. Tahiri… it had all been about Tahiri – everything.

"Oh, I get it!" Jaina snorted, expressing his thoughts before he had a chance to. "This is all about you. The whole time, it's been about saving your sorry ass and getting you off Myrkr alive, while our brother dies to save your skin!"

"No, it wasn't like-"

"Then what _was _it like, Tahiri? Ever since you got that injury at the slave city, Jacen's been so quiet and strange. Now, we know why."

A crowd of the other strike team members had gathered behind Tahiri on the edge of the ship's platform, and at one point, Anakin thought he heard a scathing insult being thrown at his sister from one of the Jedi, but he couldn't be sure who it had come from.

By this stage of the argument, he'd well and truly tuned out, too shocked and hurt by his girlfriend's betrayal to bother keeping score on who said what. He wasn't interested in the petty nit-picking that was going on. All Anakin kept thinking was why Tahiri would do such a thing to him; to all of them.

Why would she and Jacen keep up such a charade? Why didn't they expose the Dark Jedi earlier, and deal with them when they'd had the chance? There were so many questions, and Anakin doubted whether he'd ever get the answers to them.

"I've had just about enough of this! I'm not going to let my brother die for this lying little Sith!"

Jaina's stern words shattered through his hazy façade, and he regained his focus on the situation just in time to see his sister's retreating form as she stormed towards the grashal, her shadowy silhouette bathed in artificial cyan light.

"I'm not lying!" Tahiri screamed back, her whole body shaking with the strain it took to put such emotion behind those words. "This whole thing – _everything _– has been about Anakin, not me! We did all this for you, Anakin! Jacen and I did this for _YOU_!"

For the first time in his life, Anakin Solo had no idea what to do.

If he left Jaina to her feeble rescue attempt, she would die along with his brother, and he would return as the sole-surviving Solo child. However, if he went after his sister, he would be putting the rest of the strike team in grave danger.

"A-Anakin… please…"

He knew what Tahiri wanted. She wanted him to leave Jaina to her fate and save the rest of them from certain death. Anakin wouldn't have been so hesitant to go after his sister if his girlfriend's sentiments hadn't been shared by the rest of the Jedi. They _all _wanted to leave now, but the small voice of Anakin's conscience wouldn't allow it.

This wasn't about saving the strike team. This was about saving _Tahiri_. After everything she'd done, after all the lies she'd told throughout the mission, he still loved her, and wanted her to be ok. If they left now, Tahiri had a chance of making it to a bacta tank in time, but if he went after Jaina, Tahiri could die.

Either way, he lost out. There was no avoiding that now.

"A-Anakin…"

The young man closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath as he made the hardest decision of his life. He couldn't leave his two siblings here to die, he just _couldn't_. It would be selfish to go back to his parents without them; selfish of him to put his parents through so much pain when he could easily prevent it. He was willing to do anything to protect his family, and if that meant sacrificing his own happiness with Tahiri, then so be it.

Anakin took one final look over his shoulder at the dying form of his beloved companion, before igniting his violet blade and taking off after his sister. "I'm sorry, Tahiri," he whispered.

That was the last thing he ever said to her.


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34: A Hero's Death. **

Ganner Rhysode had put up quite a fight. He'd had his hand severed at the wrist during the battle at the grashal, but in true Jedi spirit, he'd persisted, chasing after the treacherous Lomi and Welk, and eventually catching up with them just a few clicks away from where the _Tachyon Flier_ was hidden.

The two Dark Jedi had been more than a little shocked when a half-eaten voxyn carcass had been thrown their way, and as they'd re-started the sword fight from earlier, their evil eyes had narrowed and their jaws had set menacingly.

At first, Ganner had held his own against them, despite being outnumbered two to one and disadvantaged due to his fresh wound; however, calling on the force to bring the pain down to a manageable level was taking its toll on his energy resources, each lung and parry getting slower and more sloppy by the second.

He'd dropped his guard completely more than once, yet the Dark Jedi had failed to take advantage of those moments. One small flick of their arms would have silenced the mighty Ganner forever, but instead, they'd hit him with a telekinetic blast, watching with sick pleasure as he'd struggled to get back on his feet.

This was all a game to them. They were toying with him, because this was the first time in a long while that they'd had any prey to play with. Ganner could see the joyous sparkle in their dark eyes as they slowly wore him down to nothing. It was enough to turn even the strongest of stomaches.

"Give it up, Jedi!" Welk snarled, as he lashed out at the man's left hand side. "Your petty skills are no match for ours!"

Even though it was tempting to bite back with a cutting remark of his own, he held his tongue. Reacting to their taunts would only serve to satisfy their insatiable appetites for inflicting pain on another being.

"That merry band of Jedi or yours, and your ticket off this dump, will be ours, not matter what!" Lomi rasped teasingly. "The best thing you can do at this point is to step aside. In fact, we might even let you live if you do."

The hum of light particles flying through the humid air echoed in Ganner's ears as he increased his attack speed, grunting along with each crackle of static as his blade met its evil counterparts. It was upsetting that the very weapons trying to destroy him had once belonged to his friends – one lost, and one now on the verge of death.

"The longer you delay us in getting what we want, the more we'll make your friends back at the ship suffer before we kill them," Welk said.

Raucous laughter filled the surrounding area as the Dark Jedi reacted to the flash of anger that had lit up Ganner's face after that last statement. They were breaking him. His steely resolve, the one thing he'd always prided himself on, was cracking under Welk's horrendous threats.

He'd just done the worst possible thing – he'd shown Lomi and Welk where his weaknesses lay. Now, they'd continue to use those weaknesses against him until he couldn't take anymore.

Until he gave in to his anger.

Gritting his teeth, Ganner strengthened his grasp on his lightsaber and took a long, purposeful swing at Welk's legs, causing the Dark Jedi to leap three feet in the air to avoid losing both lower limbs in the attack.

Lomi knocked the blonde Jedi over the back of the neck with the hilt of her weapon in retaliation to his assault on her partner, and Ganner was forced to stumble back blindly as he fought to regain his focus. Black spots blurred his vision, as the nerves in his upper spine were set alight in excruciating pain. The force-numbing he'd been performing on his charred wrist was quickly forgotten as he frantically tried to cope with his newest injury, before the Dark Jedi cut him down in this moment of vulnerability.

"You know, I think I'll kill the little girl first," Welk mused, the hollow sound of his boots slamming into the earth travelling around Ganner's crumpled form in a tight circle as he spoke. "Not quickly, of course," he added, laughing hoarsely.

"First, I think I'll fry her insides with some force-lightning… then, I'll cut off her airways just enough so that she almost passes out from the lack of oxygen. Then, when she's on the edge of death, I'll cut off each and every appendage very _slooowly_, and when she starts screaming for mercy, I'll tell her it was you, Ganner Rhysode, who let this happen to her."

"NOOOO!!!"

With an almighty scream that shook the ground beneath his feet, Ganner launched himself at Welk, his golden blade blazing like the fire of a thousand suns. The Dark Jedi had expected the threat of Tahiri's torture to crack him, but Ganner doubted Welk had foreseen the tip of his enemy's sword protruding from his chest.

The smell of searing flesh wafted through Ganner's flared nostrils, as the Dark Jedi's writhing body slipped down the length of his glowing shaft. It was a slow, painful death, and one that the Jedi felt was fitting for such an evil being.

After all his deceit and conniving schemes, Welk had finally gotten what was coming to him. Now, it was Lomi Plo's turn.

Pulling his blade the rest of the way out of Welk's limp torso, Ganner switched his full attention on the seething form that was Lomi. Her ebony hair flicked around wildly in the soft breeze, the manic movements of each strand mimicking the look of sheer fury on her face.

She was a woman on a mission. She was a woman with revenge on her mind.

"You're going to regret that, Jedi scum!" she growled, tossing her stolen lightsaber to the side like it was a useless commodity and rasing her hands to chest height, her fingers bent in an appalling manner.

"Oh, I don't think so!"

The force-lightning that hit Lomi before she could muster the strength to shoot off her own blast at Ganner was blue in colour, the same hue as the lightsaber crystal that was imbedded in the attacker's blade. Lomi shrieked like a banshee as the force of the current pushed her backwards, the electric fire coursing through her body and frying her from the inside out.

The vivid cerulean of the lightning waves travelling sporadically around the area reflected ominously in the chocolate brown eyes of the young Jedi who was taking the life of Lomi. Ganner's breath caught in his throat at the sight of Jaina Solo, his _comrade_, using such a dark technique to kill another, without the hint of remorse in her eyes.

He hadn't wanted to kill Welk, but his duty as a Jedi and second-in-command of the Myrkr mission meant that terminating the immediate threat was his primary concern. Jaina, however, was almost taking pleasure in watching Lomi's pain-stricken body writhe around against a nearby tree, and it was only when her youngest brother, Anakin, took control of the situation that her assault stopped.

"Jaina! What in Sith..."

"What? She was going to kill Ganner!" she protested loudly, staring between the two males in exasperation. "I wasn't about to just stand there and let her do it!"

"But force-lightning, Jaina?" Anakin replied cynically. "You know what Zekk would have said if he'd seen that."

"Well, then it's lucky Zekk wasn't here," she answered smartly.

"Jaina, that's not exactly what Anakin meant…" Ganner began. The decoy leader let his voice trail off as the fire-filled eyes of the young woman were suddenly trained on him.

"I know what he meant, and I know what you mean, but right now I don't have time for a lecture. I have to save Jacen!"

"Save Jacen?" Ganner repeated. "But you can't save Jacen."

Anakin's forehead creased at those words, and he gazed at the older man with a look of pure bewilderment plastered across his face. "We just had the exact same conversation with Tahiri," he said.

"So she told you, too, then?"

"Oh, yeah, she told us everything!" Jaina responded sarcastically. "Right up until the part where she screwed my brother over and made him believe he had to sacrifice himself to save her life!"

"Then you clearly didn't hear everything she had to say, because that's not the way it happened at all."

"You knew!" Anakin announced in an awe-struck voice. "You knew, and Jacen knew, and Tahiri…" His ice blue eyes narrowed in the elder Jedi's direction, and Ganner saw the small movement as his hand found the tip of his lightsaber hilt. "Who else knew?" he hissed. "Were we the only ones that had no idea?"

"No," Ganner replied. "As far as I know, it was just Tahiri, Jacen and I."

Anakin took a step back at this, obviously floored by the revelations of the day. Tahiri had definitely dropped one heck of a bombshell on the group, and the decoy leader could only imagine the scathing interrogation she would be going through right now. His heart went out to the girl. She was only trying to protect those she loved most, and those same actions that had kept her loved ones safe were going to make her look like a liar.

"Did Tahiri tell you _why_?"

"Yeah, she said something like everything was about me," Anakin said weakly. "Is that true?"

"Excuse me," Jaina interjected, "But we've done all this before - with _Tahiri_ - and I don't plan on listening to the whole sob story again. Forgive me if I don't leap for joy at the prospect of hearing you try and make your actions sound more plausible, and less like you were stabbing us all in the back."

As Jaina was storming off towards the grashal, her brother asked the same question again, more insistently this time. "Ganner, _is_ that true?"

"Yes, Anakin, it's true."

"But… but she didn't need to… I'm fine, why would she…"

"You're fine now, but you'd be far from fine if it wasn't for Tahiri," he pointed out. "That injury she sustained at the slave city… that was meant for you."

"Me?" Anakin asked, his mouth agape. "Are you sure?"

"Well, Tahiri was so sure that she was ready to stake her life on it, so I'd say that's a pretty good indication that it's true, wouldn't you?"

The young leader just nodded meekly, and for a time, the only sound that was distinguishable was that of Jaina's boots hitting the solid earth. "Ganner?" Anakin said, breaking the silence that had fallen between them. "I need you to go back to the _Flier_ for me, and if Jaina and I don't make it back, I need you to take the others and go."

"Of course," the older Jedi answered. "But you don't need to worry about that. You'll come back, right?"

"Right."

If Ganner was basing his observation on the confidence in his leader's tone alone, then this would likely be the last time they'd see each other. In true soldier form, the second-in-command saluted his brave leader once more. "It's been an honour, Anakin."

"Oh, and Ganner?"

"Yes?"

"Tell Tahiri and my parents that I'm sorry, and that I love them."

"Only if you don't make it back, though, right?"

"Right."

With that last tense word, Anakin Solo disappeared into the fog, leaving Ganner Rhysode alone with the bodies of the two Dark Jedi, one slain by his own blade, and the other killed in cold blood by Jaina's aggression.

***** **

There was only one thing stopping Jacen from completing his final mission as a Jedi – _Alema Ra_. The blue-skinned Twi'lek stood between him and the grashal entrance, her lightsaber blazing at her side and her face contorted with rage.

"You told them to leave without us," she said, her chin darting out in defiance. "Why would you do that?"

"Because sacrificing ourselves is the best thing for everyone."

It didn't matter what he said to her at this point. He'd sealed Alema's fate the moment he'd called her name and asked her to accompany him on this journey, so whatever happened now was meaningless.

"Sacrificing _ourselves_? What if I didn't want to die on this mission? What if _I_ wanted to live?" she cried, throwing her weight around, her dazzling blade flying erratically around her slender frame as she did so.

Jacen distanced himself from her spinning sword and held his hand out, gesturing to the pack of thermals hanging from her belt. "You've probably already worked out by now that what you want doesn't matter to me, so to save us both from the subsequent screaming match and headache that would no doubt follow such an explanation from me, why don't you just hand me those thermals and get out of the way so I can finish this?"

Unsurprisingly, Alema stood her ground, refusing to either move or hand over the weapons arsenal she'd picked up during the battle with Lomi and Welk. "You might have a death wish, Jacen Solo," she said, flicking her sword in his direction to force him to back track a little more. "But I certainly do not. I'm going to go back to the Flier and get off this rock with the rest of the team, and quite frankly, I don't care whether your mission succeeds or fails."

That was an idle threat if ever Jacen had heard one. He didn't want to incense her even further, because an angry Twi'lek would take more time than he had to take care of, and he couldn't risk alerting the voxyn queen to his location before he'd managed to get into position, but he couldn't stop the cutting remark from slipping out of his lips.

"I find that extremely hard to believe, Alema. I would've thought you'd want to make sure the creature that had butchered your sister in front of you was destroyed."

After that comment, the most unexpected thing happened – Alema Ra broke down crying.

Jacen watched in shocked awe as the usually gritty young alien wept in the entryway, her ignited saber slipping from her loosened grasp and deactivating as it hit the earth. This reaction was far from what he'd anticipated; yet the absence of an angry outburst wouldn't stop him from doing what needed to be done.

"I'm sorry, Alema," he said, his sorrowful voice barely above a whisper.

"For what?" she scoffed, wiping at her tear-stained cheeks with the back of her shaking hands. "For that heartless comment?"

"No," Jacen replied. "For this." Lifting his hands towards the blue-skinned alien, he called upon all the pent-up force energy in his body, closing his eyes against the pain as more than one thousand volts of electricity coursed through his fingers. Long, jagged lines of dark green force lightning shot out from his fingertips, lacing across the grashal and hitting Alema hard in the centre of her chest.

The Twi'lek slammed into the remaining section of the protective thorn hedge, crying out in agony as the razor-sharp spikes penetrated her perfectly toned dancer's physique. Blood oozed from more than a dozen wounds as she slipped further into the bush, each hole opening up to wide slits from the violent shuddering of her electrocuted body.

Tears streamed down Jacen's face as he continued to hold his comrade against the hedge, his fingers curling with the strength required in keeping such a brutal attack going. As her shaking increased to something close to a seizure, Jacen turned his head away from the scene in disgust.

The ear-piercing scream that was coming out of the alien's mouth had the male Jedi gagging with the bile that was rising from his throat, and if he saw the damage he knew the severe movements were doing to her once supple form, he knew he'd lose his entire stomach contents.

Soon enough, the shrill noise died down to a low moan, and Jacen knew it was all over. Lowering his hands and putting a lid on the force energy he'd produced from deep in his core to get rid of the Twi'lek Jedi, the young man held his head high and stared dead ahead, his gaze getting lost in the blackness of the grashal opening.

Jacen stepped over Alema's twitching body, refusing to let his eyes flicker to his former friend for even the briefest of moments, and called the discarded weapon's case to his open palm on the way past. Now that she was out of the way, and his siblings and fellow Jedi were safe, it was time to make his final sacrifice.

During his lonely trek through the winding tunnels, he had a lot of time to think about exactly what he was doing. The ever-emerging Sith in him wanted to turn back, to save himself and leave the task of killing the voxyn to someone else; someone less powerful and much more expendable. However, the hate he harboured for the person he'd become – for _himself_ – was so great that it suppressed every other feeling in his soul, so he didn't turn back.

He kept going; further and further, until he reached the very pinnacle of his journey: the voxyn queen.

Jacen cracked a glowrod and threw it a short distance away, thin beams of glowing amber light bouncing off the coral walls as it clattered to the hay-covered ground. The might of the beast that stood before him on all fours rendered him breathless, his dark gaze getting lost in the shadows above as he took in its full form. It was just like it's smaller counterparts, only much, much larger, the dull light from the glowrod illuminating two sets of heavy clawed feet, scaled, muscular limbs, and a long, thick snout.

Upon seeing the Jedi, the massive queen reared on its hind legs, roaring loudly as it readied itself for the battle ahead. It would not win, for Jacen had already counted on not making it out alive.

A wave of acid was spat his way as the creature charged. Jacen deflected it easily, using the force to push the sticky substance away from him and flicking it against the tunnel wall. The acid immediately began to eat away at the hard yorik coral, an echoing hiss filling the cavern as parts of the wall succumbed to the searing pressure.

After a few more unsuccessful attempts to douse the Jedi in deadly acid, the queen grew tired of the practice, opening it's large jaws and stabbing it's long, pointed teeth towards Jacen's torso. This was it. Grabbing a thermal from the belt slung low on his waist, Jacen allowed the voxyn to take him, flicking the switch on the explosive device as soon as he was in the beast's grasp.

_Thirty seconds._

The poisonous jaws of the queen clamped around his waist, and every nerve in Jacen's body sparked to life with excruciating pain as the serrated teeth pierced muscles, organs and bones.

_Twenty seconds._

The peace of unconsciousness was already threatening to overtake him, but Jacen wasn't ready to let go just yet. He had to ensure that the thermal didn't roll away to a safe distance before it finished the countdown, so he stuck with the torture, using the healing elements of the force to give his burning body what little relief he could.

He could hear the harsh grating noise as the creature gnawed through his backbone, the jagged edges of its canines ripping through his abdominal muscles with each pass they made like he was made of nothing more than flimisplast. It took all the strength and resolve in the galaxy to keep hold of the detonator gripped in his right hand.

_Ten seconds._

He couldn't hold it any longer. In a few seconds, the queen would have managed to cut him completely in half, and the dark shadow of death had fallen upon him. There was a resonating beep from the thermal detonator as the last few seconds of the countdown ticked away.

It was time to let go.

The voxyn queen let out a guttural roar as the two halves of Jacen's body fell to the ground, splashing in the pool of his crimson blood below, but it mattered not. He'd already passed on into the force, his limp form aglow with the intensity of the transition from the living to the afterlife.

Jacen Solo was gone, but his legacy would live on for generations. He'd died a hero, just like he'd always wanted, and no one would ever find out the horrors he would have caused, had he lived like he was supposed to.

There was enough time for the voxyn queen to let out one last anguished howl, before its colossal form was consumed in a fluorescent ball of liquid flames.

The thermal detonator was still clasped in Jacen's lifeless hand when it blew.


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35: Grief's Fury.**

All Jaina could do was stand and stare as the mighty wall of golden flames rose high into the air through the nonexistent roof of the voxyn grashal, the molten yellow of the twisting tongues turning a vivid scarlet as they collided with the intensity of the setting sun, casting an eerie, fiery glow over the surrounding landscape. The darkening trunks of the trees bordering the smouldering thorn hedge illuminated in a sudden flash of amber light, the shadows cast from their overhanging branches dancing wildly over the hard earth with each sporadic flicker of fire.

The feeling inside Jaina's heart matched that of the dazzling display in front of her: each tiny crevasse in her petite frame alive with the red-hot fury of pain, loss, and revenge. This was her fault - Tahiri's. The little blonde girl who'd spent so much of her life being treated like an extension of the Solo family had betrayed them all, giving up Jacen's life to save her own.

And now he was dead, her twin brother's body lost somewhere in the blaze that had already consumed most of the grashal by the time she'd made it over the last hill. She'd heard the reverberating boom from the thermal detonators as she'd raced over the rugged ground; felt the short stab of pain that had clutched at her heart as Jacen's life was taken from him, and the overwhelming hollowness that had followed thereafter. Jaina had heard, as she'd thrown herself over the crest of the hill in desperation, the gut-wrenching scream that had escaped her lips, the strings of profanity that had pursued, and then the echoing sound of her own strangled cries as she sobbed, hysterically, into the dead of the evening.

She'd been too late to save him; that much was certain. There was no physical way she could have run any faster, or taken down Lomi Plo any quicker. Yet Jaina would not believe that Jacen had been destined to die here today. She knew, deep inside her twisted mind, now filled with anger and unrestrained aguish, that if she and Anakin hadn't stayed so long at the _Flier_, if they'd just left instead of listening to Tahiri's tales of treachery, then they would have arrived in time.

They would have been able to prevent Jacen's death.

Tahiri had ruined everything. She'd used them all: Jaina, Anakin, Tesar, Lowie, but especially Jacen, and now her twin was dead.

Because of her.

Because of Tahiri.

It was strange; how quickly one could turn on someone they once considered a friend. Only hours earlier, Jaina would have given her life to save her little brother's girlfriend, but not anymore. Now that she knew the truth of what the young Jedi had done, she'd no sooner risk her neck for the likes of Welk or Lomi Plo.

_Lomi Plo…_

For the first time since her brief, tumultuous encounter with the Dark Jedi on the outskirts of the strike team's current hideout, Jaina comprehended exactly what she'd done. She held up her now shaking hands in front of her face, gazing at them with widened, glazed eyes. These two hands, attached to her body, had been responsible for the death of someone very evil, but also, very human. She'd killed Lomi using power only a Dark Jedi could tap into, and even now, as she continued to stare at her long, pale fingers, Jaina could feel the pent-up energy pulsing through her flesh.

Jaina clenched her throbbing hands into tight fists, as if by doing so, she'd be able to prevent a similar attack from occurring. It was a futile effort, and one she still carried out, even if she were only humouring herself; hiding from the truth of the matter. The anger she'd felt after seeing her brother's fiery grave still swirled inside her, her rage towards Tahiri increasing every extra second she stood, rooted to the spot. Jaina knew that dwelling on such thoughts was destructive, but she couldn't help it. She wanted revenge; she needed revenge. Someone had to pay for what had happened today, so that Jacen's dead wasn't in vain.

Her mind made up, the distraught Jedi turned away from the burning remains of the grashal, ready to make the blonde traitor pay for what she'd done. Jaina had barely made it over the grassy hilltop when the dark mop of her younger brother's head came into view a few clicks away. Even from this distance, she could see that he had been crying quite dramatically. Long, bright tear stains covered his dirty face, the dying sunlight catching the last drops of glistening grief and illuminating them so that it almost looked like a form of camouflage – cream against brown.

No doubt he'd felt Jacen's passing just as strongly as she had.

Before he'd reached her position, Jaina had a brief, panic-stricken thought: what if somehow Anakin had felt her sickening anger and craving for vengeance through the same force bond? Tahiri was his girlfriend, his love, and even after everything the little witch had done, Jaina believed he'd still protect her from any danger that came her way… even if the danger came from his own sister. The very idea that Anakin might have an inkling as to her feelings on the matter worried her enormously. She'd already been stopped from one mission today, and she didn't know how she'd take it if she were stopped for a second time.

"Jaya…" he said hoarsely as he came to rest beside her, deliberately keeping his back turned away from the horrid scene of their brother's downfall for as long as possible. She acknowledged his arrival with a curt nod of her head, not really knowing what else she could do or say. They'd both lost a brother; a treasured family member, and nothing they could say or do would bring him back.

There was a gentle tugging on one balled fist, and then Anakin's hand slipped silently into hers, their clammy fingers lacing together as they had done so many times in their youth. It was almost automatic, they way they clung together, more for Anakin's reassurance than Jaina's.

For the longest time, the pair stood together, side by side, linked both through their invisible force tether, and the physical one at their hands. Neither one spoke, though Jaina knew that Anakin was still crying; she could feel his intermittent trembling travel from down his arm to their connected wrists, his clamped fingers twitching every now and then as his shoulders heaved from yet another wracking sob.

By this time, Jaina's tears had well and truly dried up. She no longer felt sadness for Jacen; in fact, the only thing she could really grasp right now was the numb fury burning inside, the feeling only slightly magnified from what she'd experienced while killing the Dark Jedi about to dispose of Ganner Rhysode. She knew Anakin was aware of at least part of what she was dwelling on: his grip on her hand had tightened behind comfort, and was actually starting to hurt. As she glanced down, she could see the tops of both of their knuckles turning a brutal white against the strain he was placing on their hold, and Jaina had to grab at her brother's hand with her free one in order to prize him away from her.

She flexed her crippled joints slowly as the blood flow returned to her aching fingers, scowling at the ground as Anakin softly told her, "You can't think like that, Jaya, Jacen wouldn't have wanted it."

"Jacen wouldn't have wanted to die for her, either!" she spat back, unable to contain the vicious retort that had slipped from her pursed lips. She regretted it as soon as the last word had fallen on her ears, but there was no taking it back, not now.

Anakin's bloodshot eyes opened as wide as 3PO's prosthetic ones, his quavering mouth making the same large 'O' shape. "You're blaming _her_ for what happened?" he asked in quiet shock. "Jaina, this isn't Tahiri's fault."

"Then whose is it?" she challenged, folding her arms across her chest defensively. "Is it my fault that our brother died for her?"

"No," Anakin said sadly, shaking his head. "It's Jacen's fault, no one else's."

Jaina snorted at this response, twisting her body away from his to gaze back at the remnants of the voxyn lair, the final resting place of Jacen Solo. It was ludicrous to put the blame of his death solely on Jacen's shoulders; crazy to think that Tahiri was not at fault here, when she'd clearly stalled them both long enough so that any attempt at a rescue would be out of the question. The young girl had known for the longest time what their sibling had been planning, yet she'd kept it secret, and had only divulged the extent of their treachery when confronted for her lies. Even then, when both Anakin and she had known what Tahiri had done, the blonde had drawn out the tale until it was too late.

Until she knew for sure that Jacen would perish.

Anakin must have been reading her thoughts again, because he put an arm around her shoulders uncertainly, pulling her close enough so that her head rested on his broad chest. "Jacen knew what he was doing," he whispered, "And he didn't die to save Tahiri, he…"

His voice broke off sharply then, and an agonized sound met her ears. Jaina drew out of his embrace, whipping around so that her face was now inches from his. The first thing she noticed was the painful scrunching of his brow, his eyes creased to almost nonexistent slits, and his mouth contorted in some sort of cruel smirk. She'd never seen her little brother cry like this in all her life; never seen him so distressed in all his seventeen years of existence.

Jaina stretched out a hand and patted his back soothingly, the loving gesture seeming to bring back his resolve. Clearing his throat, he finished the sentence from before, somewhat meekly. "H-he died to save… me."

"Oh, I get it!" Jaina scoffed after a few seconds of strained silence. "You're so blind to what your girlfriend's done that you actually _believed_ what she told you!"

Anakin's choking sobs stopped abruptly, and he stared at her, his mouth tight-lipped, and his gaze a mixture of disbelief and hurt. The older Jedi waited for the angry tirade she knew was coming, standing still with her arms still folded, ready to fire back with a backlash of her own when he was done.

No such thing came.

Her little brother kept on looking as she fidgeted under his scrutiny, the hard blue-eyed gaze unnerving as it continued to stay locked onto her chocolate equivalent. Just when Jaina thought she couldn't handle the quiet any more, Anakin spoke.

"No Jaya," he pleaded, his gaze still not wavering. "Don't do this… please… not now."

At first, she had no idea what he was talking about, but then she felt his delicate mental probing, right on the edges of her sanity, and knew that he feared she'd fallen. Jaina's initial instinct was to bite back with something cutting and derogatory; however, she was saved from any kind of response by a piercing sound coming from the grashal.

It was shrill and very loud, and both Solo children were forced to cover their ears with open palms to avoid having their eardrums burst. Directly following the penetrating noise was a deafening thud, as if a large chunk of Yorik Coral inside the enclosure had succumbed to the intense heat of the fire and tumbled to the smoldering floor.

Unfortunately for Anakin and Jaina, this echoing distraction was enough to drown out the distant Yuuzhan Vong cry trumpeting behind them. Had they heard it at that time, they may have been able to make it back to the _Flier_ before being swamped by a horde of the angry aliens.

After a long moment of tense silence, the pair of Solos - who were once again joined at the hands and now staring over the crest at the fiery grave of their brother – finally noticed the sudden thunder of a thousand bare feet rumbling across the dry earth.

"Kriff!" Anakin swore, tugging at the comm. hanging from his utility belt and frantically flicking it on. "Come on, come on, pick up!" He cried impatiently, bouncing backwards and forwards from foot to foot as the roar of Yuuzhan Vong warriors grew louder with each second.

"What are you doing, we have to run!" Jaina screamed, her voice barely audible over the raucous din traveling over the harsh landscape.

"There's no time!" he grunted back, his head bent over the comm. as he struggled to obtain the right frequency. "We have to warn the others that the Yuuzhan Vong are close, and tell them to get out of here."

"What about us?" she questioned, not really sure if she wanted to hear the answer or not.

"It's too late for us."

The words echoed around Jaina's mind as she struggled to come to terms with what they actually meant. Too late. It's too late.

_For us. _

This was it; it was all over for them. She could vaguely make out Anakin's frenetic voice in the background, screaming into the comm. at one of the strike team members and telling them to leave, but the throbbing sound of her heart pounding in her ears drowned out pretty much everything else. Life around where she was standing moved by at a slow crawl; her brother's fingers danced over the controls on his communicator almost lethargically, and even the rise and fall of the leaves on the nearby trees was painfully sluggish.

Soon, Jaina could hear no sound at all: nothing, except the beating of her heart. It occurred to her then that these precious seconds were perhaps the last of her life, and in a few moments, her heart would beat for the very last time. She gripped tighter on Anakin's hand, pulling him closer to her as his mouth opened and closed, relaying a message to the others that she couldn't hear.

A thousand living sticks appeared at the edges of her vision, the tops of the alien weapons coming in to focus quickly despite her failing senses. They had very little time left, and if they were going to make one last stand against the enemy, now was the time.

Tugging on the torn jumpsuit fabric in her grasp, Jaina alerted her little brother to the fast-approaching threat, and together, the pair began to back away, their feet moving in synch as they traveled closer to the grashal. A large ember flew out of the inferno behind them, sizzling past the brunette's ear and landing on the ground beneath her. The shock of the dazzling light was enough to shake her out of her trance, her senses flooded with overwhelming sounds and smells.

She could hear Anakin now, shouting his instructions to what sounded like Tesar on the other end, the Barabel refusing to give in to his leader so easily. "-no time left, you have to go now!" he was saying in frustration, his whole body quivering with the strength it took to give such an order in the first place.

"Thiz one will not do such a thing, little brother," the alien hissed back, defiance in his snaky tone. "Not after losing Jacen."

"Put Ganner on!" Anakin demanded, his growing irritation at the situation turning quickly to anger. "Put him on _now_!"

There was a short burst of deafening static from Tesar's comm, and then Ganner's pained voice cut into the silence, his throaty tone no doubt a reaction to the grief they were all feeling being forced to leave two of their own behind. "I hear what you're saying, Anakin," he said.

"I knew I could count on you, Ganner. Promise me you'll take care of them all?"

"I promise. We'll come back for you, you know. "

Anakin nodded and swallowed thickly, the lump of emotion traveling down his throat and into the pit of his stomach, a place Jaina knew from past experience was much easier to manage pain than anywhere else. On impulse, she leant her own face towards the small device in her brother's hand and whispered something she wasn't even sure Ganner would be able to hear.

"Tell mum and dad we're sorry."

Jaina was surprised by how calmly she was able to make such a request, but for her brother, those words were his breaking, and a torrent of pent up emotion consumed him, his face fast becoming a river of flowing tears. "T-t-tell, t-tell Tahiri… t-tell h-her…" But that was as far as Anakin was able to get, because at that very moment, the mass of Yuuzhan Vong warriors had broken over the hill, their snarling, mutilated faces all trained on them, matching smiles of triumph plastered on every one.

It was time now to make their final stand as Jedi.

Two identical snap-hisses reverberated across the open plain, and the ground at their feet was bathed in a beautiful combination of azure and violet light. If the sight of such beauty didn't spell the end of their lives, Jaina would have stopped to admire it.

"I love you, Jaina."

Her brother's statement was so clear and concise that you wouldn't have known he'd been crying so violently only seconds before. She flashed him a small grin in return, one that always reminded her so very much of her father whenever she bestowed it upon someone. Anakin must have thought the same thing, as he smiled back, taking her free hand in his for what was probably the last time, and clutching it like he was never letting go.

And then they turned together, in complete unison, facing their enemies once more. With their lightsabers poised above their heads, and their bodies glowing white gold with the strength of the force flowing through them, Anakin and Jaina charged into the fray.

The last thing the tiny dot disappearing in the atmosphere would have seen was the flurry of blue and purple amongst a sea of black, illuminated by a brilliant gleam of pure white.

And then they were gone.

_~fin~_


End file.
